Ui 


fhdlv  ^i^.-.^flli^-i.u^    " 


SELECT  REMAINS 


REV.    WILLIAM   NEVINS.   D.  D. 


WITH  A  MEMOIR. 


"  He  that  dwelleth  in  love,  dwelleth  in  God." — John. 


NEW   YORK: 
PUBLISHED    BY    JOHN    S.  TAYLOR, 

CORNER    OF    PARK-ROW    AND    NASSAU-STREET, 
OPPOSITE    THE    CITT    HALL. 

1836. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  tliousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-six,  by  Rufus  L.  Nevins,  in  the  Clerk's  Office 
of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  Southern  District  of  New 
York. 


HENRY   W.  REES,  STEREOTYPER, 
45  GOLD  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


W.  S.  DORR,  PRINTER. 


ADVERTISEMENT   TO  THE  READER. 


One  of  the  dying  requests  of  Dr.  Nevins  was,  that 
no  extended  memoir  of  him  might  be  attempted.  Had 
no  such  request  been  made,  yet  the  great  barrenness 
of  incident  in  all  the  early  part  of  his  life,  and  the  fact 
that  few  materials  for  a  biography  were  ever  preserved 
by  himself,  would  have  led  to  the  same  result. 

His  letters,  too,  though  of  peculiar  and  often  thrill- 
ing interest,  are  yet  almost  invariably  dependant  for 
force  and  interest  on  circumstances  of  which  the  ge- 
neral reader  could  not  properly  be  advised.  Not  one 
entire  and  long  letter  has  been  found,  which  it  was,  on 
the  whole,  deemed  expedient  to  give  to  the  public ; 
although  many  of  them  have  lost  none  of  the  interest 
which  they  had  in  the  minds  of  persons  to  whom  they 
were  originally  addressed. 

In  the  following  pages,  the  reader  is  presented  with 
only  a  brief  sketch  of  his  short,  but  useful  life,  and  with 
selections  from  his  unpublisbed  writings. 

The  Lord  bless  the  reader  of  this  book. 


CONTENTS 


Biographical  Notice  of  William  Nevins,  D, 

Theology, 

Religion, 

Religion  and  Morality, 

Creeds, 

Infidels, 

Infidelity,  .  .  . 

Philosophy, 

Reason,  .  .  . 

Faith  and  Reason, 

The  Bible, 

God's  Word, 

The  Jewish  Church,     . 

Christianity,  .  . 

The  Gospel,     . 

The  Power  of  the  Gospel, 

God,     .... 

Character  of  God, 

Trinity, 

Providence, 

Decrees,  Election,  Predestination, 

Divine  Judgments, 

God's  Mercy,  . 

Divine  Tenderness, 

Terms  of  ReconciUation  with  Grod, 

Divinity  of  Christ,  . 

Love  of  Christ, 

Atonement,  .  . 

Christ's  Resurrection, 

Character  of  Christ, 

What  a  Saviour, 

"  I  would  see  Jesus," 


D., 


Page. 

9 

83 

85 

87 

89 

91 

92 

93 

ib. 

96 

97 

102 

103 

104 

105 

110 

115 

IIG 

117 

118 

ib. 

120 

121 

122 

127 

131 

135 

137 

140 

ib. 

141 

143 


CONTENTS. 


"  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost," 

Imitation  of  Christ, 

Rejection  of  Christ, 

Wrath  of  the  Lamb, 

Work  of  the  Spirit, 

Angels,       .... 

Adam  our  Federal  Head, 

Man,  .... 

The  Worth  of  the  Soul, 

Human  Accountability, 

Human  Perfection, 

Sin,  .... 

Sinners,  ... 

Folly  of  Sin, 

Depravity,        .  .  . 

Total  Depravity,     . 

Ruin  Easy,  yet  Dreadful, 

The  Sinner's  Condition, 

Pleas  of  Sinners, 

Inability,     .... 

Self-righteousness, 

Code  of  Honor, 

Conscience,      .  .  . 

Casuistry,  .... 

Judgment  of  Character, 

Self-knowledge,      .  .  . 

Hypocrites,      .  .  . 

Inconsistencies,      .  .  . 

The  Christian, 

Happiness  of  the  Righteous, 

The  Saint  and  the  Sinner, 

Reflection, 

Sense  of  Guilt, 

The  Impenitent  miserable  of  necessity, 

Delay, 

Pride,  .... 

Pride  and  Humility,     . 

Unbelief,     .... 

Worldliness,    . 

Animosity, 

Idolatry,  .  .  . 

Perversity,  .  •  . 

Intemperance, 

Evil  Speaking,        .  .  • 

Applause,        .  .  . 


Page. 

147 
152 
153 
154 
155 
156 

ib. 
157 
159 
160 
162 
163 
166 
168 
169 
172 
174 
176 
177" 
178 
179 
180 
181 
182 

ib. 
183 
185 
186 
187 

ib. 
195 
197 

ib. 
199 
202 
205 
206 
207 

ib. 
208 
209 

ib. 
210 

ib. 
211 


CONTENTS. 

7 

Poge. 

Novel  Reading  and  Theatres, 

. 

211 

Perversions,     .... 

, 

.      213 

Self-deception, 

. 

214 

"  An  Honest  Man  is  the  Noblest  Work  of  God,"      . 

.       217 

Influences, 

. 

218 

Where  are  you  going  ?              . 

, 

.       219 

Death-bed  Repentance, 

. 

220 

Conversion,       .... 

, 

.       222 

Faith,          .... 

•            •            • 

223 

Faith  and  Practice,      .            .            . 

,             . 

.       225 

Repentance,            .            .            . 

. 

226 

"  And  the  Lord  turned  and  looked  upon 

Peter," 

.       223 

What  we  hope  for. 

.            . 

229 

Love,    ..... 

. 

.       231 

Love  and  Fear, 

. 

232 

Love  of  Truth, 

. 

.       233 

Truth  and  Charity, 

. 

234 

Heavenly-mindedness, 

. 

.       236 

A  Holy  Life, 

.            .            . 

237 

Knowledge,      .... 

. 

.       238 

Controversy  among  Christians, 

. 

241 

Differences  of  Opinion, 

. 

.       242 

Contending  for  the  Faith,  . 

,            ,            , 

244 

The  Ministry  and  Preaching, 

. 

.       251 

Visitation  of  the  Sick, 

. 

254 

The  Church,    .... 

, 

.       257 

Spread  of  the  Gospel, 

. 

258 

Missions,          .... 

. 

ib. 

Why  every  body  should  have  the  Bible 

m  twenty  years, — a 

a  unpub- 

lished  premium  Tract,               « 

. 

.      261 

Salvation  great  and  difficult, 

. 

291 

Fixed  purposes. 

. 

.       303 

Labors  of  Love, 

. 

304 

Watchfulness,               .             . 

. 

.       305 

Confession, 

. 

306 

The  yoke  of  Christ,     . 

. 

.       307 

Profession  of  Religion, 

. 

308 

Reparation,      .... 

. 

.       310 

Union,        .... 

. 

311 

Good  Morals,  .... 

. 

ib. 

Entire  Devotedness  to  God, 

. 

312 

Prayer, 

. 

.       318 

Secret  Prayer, 

. 

321 

Family  Prayer, 

. 

.       323 

Prayer  Meetings,  . 

•                        •                        • 

324 

O                                                   CONTENTS. 

Page. 

Praise,             ...... 

.       326 

Riches,       ....... 

327 

Wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper,    .... 

.       328 

Backsliding,            ...... 

ib. 

Conformity  to  the  World,        .... 

.      329 

Marriage,    .....,, 

330 

The  House  of  God,     .            .            .            ,            , 

.       331 

Politics  and  Religion,        .            .            «            .            • 

332 

Vows,  ....... 

ib. 

The  Unpaid  Vow,              ..... 

333 

Hearing  and  Hearers,              .... 

.       334 

Temporal  and  Spiritual  Blessings,             ... 

335 

Youth,              ...... 

.       336 

The  Aged, 

33S 

The  Future,     ...... 

.       339 

Human  Life,           ...... 

340 

Length  of  Life,            ..... 

.       341 

This  Life  and  the  next,      ..... 

342 

Time  and  Eternity,      ..... 

.      343 

Eternity,     .            ...... 

344 

A  New  Year's  Wish,              .... 

.      345 

Nearness  of  Death,            ..... 

346 

Death,               ...... 

.      348 

Another  Victory  over  Death,          .... 

350 

Resurrection,    ...... 

.       352 

The  Last  Judgment,          ..... 

354 

Moral  Results,             ..... 

.       357 

The  Supper  of  the  Lamb,             .... 

358 

Heaven,           ...... 

.       359 

Future  Punishment,            ..... 

360 

Hell, 

.       362 

Tribute  to  the  Memory  of  the  Rev.  Sylvester  Lamed, 

364 

Extracts  from  Discourses,        .... 

.       367 

BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.  D. 


William  Kevins  was  born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut, 
October  IStli,  1797.  His  parents  had  twelve  children, 
of  whom  he  was  the  youngest.  His  father,  David 
Nevins,  who  was  an  officer  in  that  tedious  war  which 
established  our  national  independence,  still  lives,  hav- 
ing" attained  to  nearly  ninety  years  of  age.  His  mother, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Hubbard,  was  an  esti- 
mable woman,  and  very  attentive  to  the  religious 
instruction  of  her  children,  teaching  them,  besides 
other  things,  that  excellent  summary  of  christian  doc- 
trine, the  Westminster  Assembly's  Catechism.  The 
benefits  of  this  instruction  were  with  thoughtfulness 
acknowledged  by  her  youngest  son,  during  all  his 
public  life.  This  lady  died  in  the  year  1820.  Twelve 
years  after  her  death,  he  says,  "The  year  1820  is 
mournful  in  the  retrospect.  Our  dear  mother  left  us 
that  year.  But  it  was  according  to  the  course  of 
nature,  that  our  mother  should  go  before  us  to  eternity, 
and  she  sank  to  the  grave  by  a  gradual  decline  and 
full  of  years,  having  served  her  generation  by  the  will 
of  God." 


10  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OP 

His  parents  were  not  professors  of  religion  when  he 
first  embraced  the  gospel.  His  solicitude  for  them  was 
great,  yet  always  marked  with  high  respect  and  un- 
feigned filial  affection.  And  it  is  a  matter  of  interest 
and  encouragement,  that  his  conversation  and  corres- 
pondence were  not  without  their  effect  on  at  least  one 
of  his  parents ;  the  other  being  led  by  other  means  to 
a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

About  the  age  of  fourteen  years,  William  came  to 
New  York,  and  entered  a  counting  room.  But  though 
he  was  manifestly  not  indolent,  yet  it  was  soon  appar- 
ent that  his  heart  was  not  there.  The  fire  of  the  love 
of  knowledge  was  shut  up  in  his  bones.  He  remained, 
however,  for  one  year.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time, 
his  parents,  convinced  of  the  permanency  and  fervency 
of  his  desire  to  obtain  a  liberal  education,  yielded  to  his 
requests  and  the  advice  of  friends,  and  consented  to  his 
returning  home.  He  immediately  commenced  prepara- 
tory studies,  and  in  due  time  entered  Yale  College, 
where  he  distinguished  himself  as  a  scholar. 

Up  to  this  time,  there  had  been  nothing  encouraging 
in  his  history  on  the  subject  of  chief  importance.  Hav- 
ing great  natural  gayety  of  temper,  and  possessing 
rather  unusual  powers  of  wit,  he  had  devoted  himself, 
in  his  hours  of  leisure,  rather  to  amusement,  than  to 
religious  duties.  But  it  pleased  God,  in  his  great  love, 
to  pour  out  his  Holy  Spirit  on  many  hearts  in  this 
college,  and,  in  the  exercise  of  his  adorable  sovereignty 
and  distinguishing  love,  to  awaken  our  young  friend  to 
a  sense  of  the  importance  of  eternal  things.  It  is  to  be 
peculiarly  regretted  that  no  record  of  his  views,  feelings 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  H 

and  purposes  at  this  time,  can  be  found.  The  letters 
which  he  wrote  to  his  friends  on  these  subjects,  have 
been  irrecoverably  lost.  Some  judicious  persons,  how- 
ever, to  whom  he  revealed  the  state  of  his  mind, 
thought  his  exercises  deep,  solemn,  and  scriptural ; 
and  his  subsequent  course  proved  them  to  be  thorough. 
He  completed  his  course  at  Yale,  and  graduated  at  the 
commencement  in  1816. 

He  did  not  communicate  with  many  persons  respect- 
ing the  course  he  should  pursue  after  leaving  college. 
The  few  survivors,  to  whom  he  did  speak,  remember 
with  what  solemn  and  cautious  deliberation  he  came  to 
the  determination  to  study  theology,  preparatory  to  the 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry.  He  accordingly  entered 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton,  in  the  autmnn 
of  1816.  Here  he  remained  three  years,  completing  the 
whole  course  prescribed  in  the  plan  of  the  institution. 

About  the  time  of  his  leaving  the  seminary,  the 
rising  republics  of  South  America  attracted  his  special 
attention ;  and,  for  many  months,  he  thought  frequently 
and  inquired  earnestly,  as  to  the  duty  of  devoting  his 
life  to  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  some  one  of  these 
young  states.  While  his  mind  was  undecided,  his  way 
was  directed  to  Virginia.  He  visited  Norfolk,  Peters- 
burg and  Richmond  ;  generally  preaching  with  accept- 
ance. At  the  last  mentioned  place,  he  also  labored 
for  a  short  time  among  the  unhappy  inmates  of  the 
penitentiary.  In  Richmond,  also,  he  formed  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  family  of  that  distinguished  friend 
of  man,  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  H.  Rice.  This  acquaintance 
grew  into  a  matured  and  close  friendship,  which  was 


12  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

interrupted  only  by  death.  Before  leaving  Richmond, 
our  young  preacher  determined  not  to  go  to  South 
America. 

In  August,  1820,  he  commenced  regular  ministerial 
labors  among  the  people  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Baltimore  ;  and  on  the  19th  of  October,  of 
the  same  year,  was  ordained  and  regularly  installed 
its  pastor.  In  this  new  station,  he  addressed  himself 
to  his  appropriate  work  with  zeal  and  diligence.  It 
would  be  interesting,  and  perhaps  not  unprofitable, 
under  other  circumstances,  to  spend  a  short  time  in 
contemplating  the  alternate  hopes  and  fears,  joys  and 
sorrows  of  a  youth  of  twenty-three  years  of  age,  under- 
taking to  perform  the  duties  of  one  of  the  most  difficult 
and  important  posts  in  our  country.  But  an  allusion 
to  the  fact  is  all  that  is  here  proper.  Let  the  reader 
remember,  however,  that  he  went  not  a  warfare  at  his 
own  charges  or  in  his  own  strength.  "  The  people 
that  know  their  God  shall  be  strong,  and  shall  do 
exploits.  Yea,  the  feeble  among  them  shall  be  as 
David,  and  David  shall  be  as  the  angel  of  God." 

In  his  congregation,  he  soon  found  one  who  was  a 
kindred  spirit,  and  eminently  suited  to  be  a  coadjutor. 
It  was  young  Colonel  M'Henry.  This  comfort  and 
help  was  not  left  to  him  long,  however.  "  He  was 
not,  for  God  took  him."  In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  the 
subject  of  this  notice  thus  expresses  himself: 

''Baltimore,  October  15,  1822. 
*  *  *  *  "  I  have  been  bereaved  of  a  very  valuable 
male  friend  and  counsellor  and  help  in  my  congre- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  13 

gation.  It  was  but  the  day  after  the  date  of  my  last 
letter  to  you,  that  I  heard  of  the  death  of  young 
Colonel  M'Henry,  who  was  carried  off  by  a  bilious 
fever,  at  Mercersburg,  Penn.,  on  his  return  from  Bed- 
ford. And  since  that  time,  I  have  been  suffering  under 
the  severest  pangs  of  bereavement.  He  was  a  young 
man  of  the  first  understanding,  of  the  first  family,  of 
large  estate,  possessed  of  every  ability  and  opportunity 
to  be  greatly  useful,  and  besides  all,  was  one  of  the 
most  devoted,  pure,  consistent  and  active  Christians 
that  I  ever  saw.  There  was  a  singularly  strong  private 
attachment  between  us  ;  but  that  was  nothing,  com-, 
pared  with  the  strength  and  sacredness  of  the  tie  which 
bound  us  together  as  fellow-laborers  in  the  same  part 
of  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord.  He  was  shortly  to  have 
become  one  of  my  elders,  and  we  had  laid  plans  of 
usefulness  and  of  co-operation  in  the  cause  of  Christ, 
that  were  to  reach  far  forward  into  futurity.  But  he  is 
taken  and  I  am  left.  A  very  bright  page  has  been  torn 
out  of  the  book  of  my  anticipations.  Oh,  my  beloved 
and  much  lamented  M'Henry  !  My  mind  last  week 
was  very  much  agitated  and  cast  down ;  yet  my  reflec- 
tions on  his  death  led  me  to  appreciate  more  highly 
than  ever  the  worth  of  that  religion,  which  gave  him 
perfect  peace  on  his  death  bed,  and  filled  his  departing 
soul  with  sublime  and  confident  hope,  so  that  he  went 
into  eternity  with  a  willing  obedience  and  a  filial  fear- 
lessness." 

Before  this   time,   he   had  entered  into   a  marriage 
engagement  with  Miss  Mary  Lloyd,  daughter  of  the 


14  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

Hon.  Philip  Barton  Key,  of  Georgetown,  a  lady  of 
great  worth,  and  in  every  respect  suited  to  make  him 
happy  and  useful.  His  duties  as  pastor  increasing,  if 
not  in  number,  yet  in  force  upon  his  mind,  he  pleas- 
antly remarked  to  a  friend,  that  it  seemed  to  him  as  if 
he  should  "  hardly  have  time  to  be  ynarried."  On  the 
eve  of  his  marriage,  he  thus  writes  : 

"Baltimore,  October  15,  1822. 
"  Both  my  mind  and  my  time  are,  of  course,  some- 
what occupied  in  preparations  for  my  marriage.  I 
anticipate,  of  course,  a  good  deal  of  what  is  called 
happiness,  and  probably  I  have  as  good  reason  to  do  so 
as  any  one  ;  yet  frequently  and  anxiously  do  I  reflect 
on  the  uncertainty  of  all  human  things  ;  and  that  the 
very  mercifulness  of  God  may  disappoint  me  of  what  I 
am  looking  forward  to.  I  make  it  my  constant  prayer 
and  endeavor,  that  I  may  be  prepared  for  disappoint- 
ment, and  that  I  may  be  brought  to  that  state  of  mind 
in  which  I  shall  piously  and  submissively  bow  to  all 
the  divine  will  concerning  me  and  mine." 

With  these  views,  he  was  married,  November  13, 
1822.  Five  children  were  given  by  God  to  these 
parents.  Of  these,  the  eldest  and  the  youngest  sleep. 
The  other  three,  one  son  and  two  daughters,  remain 
unto  this  present  time. 

From  the  time  of  his  settlement,  for  six  or  seven 
years,  nothing  very  unusual  to  the  life  of  a  pastor 
occurred  in  his  congregation.  He  grew  in  the  estima- 
tion and  affections  of  his  people,  and  in  zeal  and  desires 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  15 

for  usefulness.  Indeed,  an  examination  of  his  manu- 
scripts, would  convince  any  one,  that  about  the  year 
1826  there  was  a  decided  increase  of  solemnity  and 
directness  of  appeal  in  his  sermons.  And  the  unc- 
tion, that  he  about  this  time  received,  abode  with  him. 
His  preaching  became  more  and  more  solemn,  direct, 
plain  and  pungent,  until  the  winter  of  1826-7,  when 
it  pleased  the  great  Head  of  the  church  to  grant  a  time 
of  refreshing  to  one  or  two  churches  in  Baltimore.  In 
this  blessed  work,  the  first  Church  shared  largely.  It 
is  to  be  regretted  that  no  account  of  this  work  is  to  be 
found.  The  fruits  of  it  were  a  very  large  addition  of 
valuable  members,  many  of  whom  still  live  to  adorn 
the  doctrine  of  God  their  Saviour.  Neither  in  this  nor 
subsequent  seasons  of  special  attention  to  religion  in 
his  church,  did  this  judicious  pastor  have  resort  to  any 
of  the  modern  devices  for  creating  or  maintaining 
excitement.  He  also  solemnly  warned  his  people 
against  a  premature  profession. 

On  the  tenth  anniversary  of  his  settlement  among 
his  people.  Dr.  Nevins  preached  a  discourse  founded  on 
the  words,  "  The  time  is  short."  It  is  a  solemn  and 
interesting  discourse.  From  this  sermon,  it  appears 
that  during  the  ten  years,  there  had  been  added  to  the 
church  under  his  care  on  examination,  upwards  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty  members  ;  and  that  during  the 
same  period,  he  had  attended  the  burial  of  about  two 
hundred  and  sixty  persons,  many  of  whom,  however, 
were  infants,  and  many  more  not  connected  with  his 
pastoral  charge  in  anywise.  How  few  pastors  can,  at 
the  end  of  ten  years,  furnish  such  statistics,  as  matter 


16  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OP 

of  thanksgiving  to  God — the  number  of  hopeful  con- 
versions, at  least,  equalling  the  number  of  deaths  in  his 
congregation. 

Perhaps  few,  if  any,  ever  exceeded  Dr.  Nevins  in 
fidelity  to  his  unconverted  friends.  All  his  private 
papers  prove  this.  It  is  not  proper  to  submit  all 
these  proofs  before  the  reader.  Let  the  following 
suffice : 

"  Baltimore,  November  19,  1825. 

"  I  wish  my  venerable  father  to  be  reconciled  to  a 
departure  from  this  world,  not  because  he  has  lived 
long  and  enjoyed  much,  but  by  virtue  of  an  assured 
prospect  of  a  better  and  brighter  world  beyond  it. 
Indeed,  this  is  the  last  grand  desire  which  I  have  for 
him,  and  though  the  gratification  of  it  is  long  deferred, 
yet  I  hope,  I  pray  it  may  not  be  ultimately  disap- 
pointed." 

In  another  letter,  he  says  : 

"  If  all  my  relatives  were  followers  of  the  Lord,  I 
should  feel  easy  about  them,  though  in  the  midst  of 
pestilence.  Death,  even  by  the  cholera,  is  gain  to  the 
Christian." 

In  another  letter,  he  quotes  Paul's  strong  language, 
in  part ;  Rom.  ix.  2,  3.  "  I  have  great  heaviness  and 
continual  sorrow  in  my  heart  for  my  brethren,  my  kins- 
men, according  to  the  flesh." 

In  another,  dated  July  4,  1831,  he  says:  "It  de- 
serves our  grateful  notice,  that  no  adult,  of  our  name, 
has  died  since  1820.  How  few  families  of  the  same 
size  can  say  that ! " 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  17 

About  six  weeks  before  he  died,  he  wrote  the  follow- 
ing, and  requested  a  copy  to  be  sent  to  each  of  his 
relatives : 

"  I  would  affectionately  and  earnestly  request  of  my 
beloved  relatives,  my  brothers  and  sisters,  my  nephews 
and  nieces,  and  all,  that  they  would,  at  least  once 
every  week,  and  I  wish  it  could  be  once  every  day, 
read,  deliberatel)'^  and  seriously,  a  portion  of  the  Bible, 
the  word  of  God,  with  earnest  prayer  to  God,  that  he 
would  enlighten  their  minds  by  his  Spirit,  to  under- 
stand, especially,  so  much  of  his  word,  as  relates  to 
their  duty  and  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ,  and  that 
he  would  give  them  grace  to  feel  and  act  according  to 
the  knowledge  thus  acquired. 

"WILLIAM  NEVINS. 

^^  Baltimore,  August  1,  1835." 

Nor  was  his  solicitude  confined  merely  to  his  own 
family.  It  extended  to  his  wife's  family.  Of  this, 
there  are  many  proofs.  The  following  memoranda  are 
made  by  him  : 

"March  27,  1830.  A  memorable  day !  Last  evening 
I  heard  of  the  death  of  my  poor  dear  sister,  Louisa  Key  ; 
with  difficulty,  I  suppressed  my  feelings  and  kept  it 
from  my  wife  until  this  morning,  when,  to  her  first,  and 

then  successively  to  Mrs.    Key,  R ■>  and  A         ,   I 

broke  the  heavy  tidings.  Dear,  loved  Louisa,  my  sister, 
for  my  heart  tells  me  in  its  agony  that  thou  wast  loved, 
art  thou  indeed  gone  I   It  is  no  delusive  dream;  but  sad, 

2* 


18  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

shocking  reality.  Yes,  thou  art  gone !  So  soon  and  for 
ever  gone: — how  unexpectedly  to  us;  how  unexpect- 
edly to  thee.  Oh  my  sister,  I  could  weep  out  these  eyes 
for  thee ! — I  could  break  my   heart  for  thee !      Thou 

didst  not  think  that  thou  wast  going  to  L to  find 

a  grave  !  A  few  days  ago,  thou  wast  moving,  admired 
and  admiring,  among  the  too  fascinating  gayeties  of 
N.  O. ; — now,  thou  art — where  art  thou,  dear  spirit  ? 
Late,  though  it  was,  yet  at  last,  I  trust,  thou  didst  love 
and  look  to  Jesus,  and  he  who  turned  not  away  the 
prayer  of  one  whose  last  utterance  was,  'Lord  remem- 
ber me,'  heard  thee,  I  fondly  hope,  and  did  not  forget 
thee  in  that  hour  of  thy  need.  Poor  young  thing !  thou 
wast  not  familiar  with  death.  He  had  never  before 
presented  himself  to  thee — thou  didst  not  expect  him — 
but  he  came !  Oh,  if  I  were  but  assured  that  Jesus  was 
with  thee  then,  and  that  thou  art  now  with  him,  I 
should  still  weep,  but  they  would  be  tears  of  gratitude ! 
Oh,  if  thou  art  with  him,  stay  where  thou  art  f  I 
would  not  call  thee  back — thou  wouldst  not  come ! 
No,  if  thou  sleepest  in  Jesus,  sleep  on ;  I  Avould  not 
wake  thee !  Oh  Louisa,  I  wish  I  had  been  more 
faithful  to  thee  ;  I  wish  I  had  prayed  for  thee  more.  I 
might  have  been  a  better  brother  to  thee.  But  there 
is  one  that  did,  night  and  morning,  pray  for  thee — thy 
mother ;  and  her  desire  for  thee  was  not  worldly  pros- 
perity, but  that  her  child  might  be  a  child  of  God. 
Oh  Louisa,  what  could  I  do  for  thee  now,  now  that 
nothing  can  be  done  for  thee !  I  will  be  more  faithful 
to  thy  sisters,  and  will  say  to  them,  what  I  know  thou 
wouldst  say,  couldst  thou  speak  to  them  from  thy  new 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.   D.  19 

home  in  eternity.     Poor  E ,  I  pity  thee.     God  have 

mercy  on  thee.  She,  that  was  more  to  thee  than  thy 
sister,  thine  other  self,  is  taken  from  thee.  She  came 
into  being  with  thee,  but  has  gone  out  without  thee. 
The  set  is  broken ;  one  of  the  pair  is  gone  ;  but  thou 
mayest  be  mated  again  to  thy  Louisa.  Oh,  may 
heaven  reunite  you  ! 

"June  1.  Yesterday,  our  dear  friends  from  Louisiana, 
after  long  and  anxious   expectation  of  them,  arrived. 

Poor    E ,   the    shock   of    the   meeting   caused   her 

reason  to  totter  on  its  throne  ;  but  to-day  it  sits  firm  in 
its  seat.  Alas,  Louisa  is  not ;  she  went,  but  she  came 
not  again  with  them.  Oh  death,  rarely  hast  thou  ever 
gained  a  richer  victory,  or  carried  off  a  lovelier  trophy  ! 
And  yet,  I  trust  it  was  only  an  apparent  victory,  and 
that  the  spirit  of  Louisa  was  laid  a  trophy  at  the  feet 
of  Jesus.  Oh,  I  trust  that  through  grace  she  is  saved. 
In  the  delirium  of  her  disease,  she  called  constantly  on 
her  mother, — '  Mother,  mother,  come  to  your  child.' 
Ah,  she  would  have  come,  she  would  have  flown  on 
the  wings  of  love  ;  but  she  heard  not,  she  knew  not  of 
it — she  could  not  come  ;  but  oh,  I  trust,  Jesus  came  at 
the  call,  and  he  was  better  to  her  than  her  mother. 
They  asked  her  where  she  thought  she  would  go  when 
she  died,  and  she  raised  her  eyes  and  lifted  her  finger, 
and  said,  'to  Heaven.'  And  there,  I  trust,  she  is  waiting 
for  us.  Oh  God,  didst  thou  not  take  away  from  her  the 
terror  of  death,  and  inspire  that  hope  1     She  wanted  to 

leave  a  message  for  E ,  but  it  was  too  late.     She 

articulated  'E ,'  but  could  no  more,  and  presently 

was  fast  in  the  embrace  of  death." 


20  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

The  following  extracts  from  Dr.  Nevins'  diary,  are 
given  in  an  unbroken  series,  solely  because  it  was 
judged  best  that  the  reader  should  see  his  views  as 
he  recorded  them  in  private.  They  treat  of  matters, 
many  of  which  are  noticed  elsewhere,  but  as  there  are 
no  tedious  details,  they  are  given  entire : 

"January  1,  1830.  Ebenezer !  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord 
helped  me.  Preached  to-day,  I  trust,  with  somewhat  of 
the  right  kind  of  spirit.  Blessed  be  God,  that  I  think  I 
never  commenced  a  year  so  well.  May  He  strengthen 
me  to  fulfil  all  my  resolutions  ! 

*' Januarit  7,  1830.  I  had  a  good  day  on  the  sabbath, 
and  hope  that  good  was  done,  which  eternity  will  reveal, 
if  it  should  never  appear  in  time.  Last  evening  I  spoke 
on  the  concern  which  Christians  ought  to  feel  for  the 
salvation  of  souls.  Oh  that  I  might  habitually  feel  it. 
How  it  would  excite  me  to  duty.  Thanks  to  God,  that 
yesterday  I  found  one  soul  awaking  if  not  awakened. 
May  she  sleep  never  again  until  she  sleep  in  Jesus. 
How  hard  it  is  to  keep  one's  resolutions  !  It  requires 
unremitted  watchfulness : — and  what  is  so  difficult  as  to 
be  ever  watchful ! 

"January  28,  1830.  How  mercifully  has  God  dealt 
with  me  !  How  entirely  unencumbered  am  I  with  the 
care  of  providing  for  the  earthly  support  of  myself  and 
my  family  !  How  many  much  more  worthy  ministers 
are  straitened  in  their  worldly  circumstances,  while  1 
possess  the  greatest  abundance !  Oh  that  I  may  sympa- 
thize with  my  poorer  brethren,  and  never  harden  my 
heart  against  them,  but  be  always  ready  to  communicate 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  21 

to  them,  and  in  every  way  to  assist  them  ;  may  grati- 
tude impel  me  to  this,  and  may  I  remember  how  easily 
God  may  withdraw  from  me  my  support,  by  disqualifying 
me  for  the  ministry,  or  alienating  my  people  from  me. 
Oh,  to  make  such  a  use  of  money  as  to  be  able  to  give 
account  of  it  with  joy  ;  and  oh,  to  be  faithful  to  my 
Lord  and  Master  in  all  things !  Oh,  to  be  delivered  from 
the  fear  of  man  ! 

"February  3,  1830.     Called  on  Mrs.  A ,  who 

has  been  anxious  for  some  time  past,  and  found  her 
rejoicing  in  hope.  She  spoke  of  having  received  great 
comfort  and  instruction  from  my  sermon  last  Sunday, 
on  2  Cor.  vii,  10.  I  felt  a  confidence  that  God  would 
accomplish  some  good  by  it. 

"February  4,  1830.  Oh,  that  God,  by  his  abund- 
ant grace,  would  keep  me  from  being  lifted  up  with 
pride.  God  forbid,  especially,  that  I  should  be  ever 
left  to  take  to  myself  any  of  the  credit  of  a  conversion. 
Let  me  not  think  that  even  my  instrumentality  is 
needed  by  the  Lord.  How  easily  he  could  do  without 
me.  It  is  an  act  of  pure  favor,  that  I  am  permitted  to 
be  in  any  way  subservient  to  the  spiritual  good  of  others, 
and  so  may  I  ever  esteem  it.  Laus  Deo,  be  my 
motto ! 

"February  5,  1830.  Oh  take  away  from  me  the 
fear  of  death !  How  far  am  I  from  that  perfection  of 
love  which  casts  out  fear !  May  I  place  my  happiness 
in  the  enjoyment  of  God  alone,  and  account  heaven 
my  home,  and  myself  a  pilgrim  here. 

"February  14,  1830.  The  Lord  has  helped  me 
through    this   day;  but    Oh,  if  he    should   make    the 


22  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

success  of  my  ministry  depend  on  the  worthiness  of  it, 
alas  for  my  poor  people !  At  the  close  of  the  Sabbath, 
I  always  find,  in  looking  back  on  the  day,  many  causes 
of  regret.     I  suffer  trifles  unduly  to  affect  me. 

"March  7,  1830.  Three  years  ago  this  Sabbath, 
the  reviving  work  of  God  began  among  us.  How 
much  we  need  now  the  renewal  of  it !  The  three  last 
sabbaths  I  have  been  greatly  aided.  I  am  determined 
to  pray  more  than  I  have  done.  Something  is  wanting, 
and  I  think  it  is  prayer — the  prayer  of  faith.  Oh,  for 
faith  to  offer  the  prayer  of  faith  !  I  could  scarcely  get 
out  the  Lord's  message  this  afternoon,  so  hoarse  Avas  1 ; 
but  I  delivered  it,  and  he  will  see  to  it.  It  is  his  word, 
and  the  cause  is  his.  I  rejoice  that  his  honor  is  con- 
cerned in  the  progress  of  the  gospel.  It  must  go  on 
and  ultimately  triumph,  for  his  glory  requires  that  it 
should.  Truth,  even  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  will, 
must  prevail ;  but  ah,  ere  her  final  victory  is  won,  how 
many  will  fall  in  her  conflicts  with  error ! 

"March  10,  1830.  This  slight  indisposition,  under 
which  I  am  now  laboring,  has  led  me  to  reflect,  first, 
on  the  great  goodness  of  God  to  me,  as  it  regards  the 
matter  of  health  ;  how  wonderful  has  been  the  forbear- 
ance of  God  to  me  in  this  respect;  and  it  has  been 
equally  so  towards  my  family.  None  can  owe  a  deeper 
debt  of  gratitude  to  God,  than  do  I.  How  many  of 
my  dear  brethren  in  the  ministry  have  been  cut  off, 
or  have  been  laid  aside  through  indisposition,  or  have 
been  bereaved  of  those  most  beloved  by  them.  It  is 
God  that  has  made  me  to  differ  from  them.  How  few 
disappointments  have  I  been  called  to  suffer.     To  how 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  23 

few  trials  has  my  submission  been  put,  and  how  light 
they  have  been!  I  record  this  fact  with  mingled 
trembling  and  thankfulness.  I  know  not  what  awaits 
me.  I  am  glad  that  I  do  not.  I  rejoice  that  the  future 
is  as  the  past  has  been  with  God.  May  I  feel  that  he 
rules,  and  rejoice  that  he  rules.  And  will  he  prepare 
me,  (for  I  feel  how  unprepared  I  am  now,)  for  all  his 
purposes  in  regard  to  me  and  my  family^  Will  he  but 
give  me  the  grace  of  submission,  when  he  puts  me 
to  any  triaH  Without  his  grace,  I  can  neither  do  nor 
bear  any  thing. 

"I  have  been  led,  also,  to  reflect  how  easily  God 
might  disqualify  me  for  the  work  of  the  ministry  ;  and 
Oh,  how  justly  he  might  do  it ;  and  how  well  he  could 
spare  me !  Let  me  never  think,  as  my  wicked  heart 
would  sometimes  suggest,  that  I  am  necessary  to  God, 
and  that  his  cause  requires  my  advocacy  and  influence. 
No,  let  me  rather  feel  that  it  is  kindness  and  forbear- 
ance on  the  part  of  God,  which  permits  me  to  exercise 
this  high  oflice.  It  is  an  honor  that  God  confers  upon 
me.  All  the  obligation  is  on  my  part.  Oh  blessed 
Master,  if  it  please  thee,  let  me  continue  to  preach 
thy  gospel ;  and  oh,  that  I  may  ever  have  thy  glory  for 
my  single  object.  I  am  too  prone  to  seek  my  own 
glory,  and  to  wish  to  make  a  favorable  impression  for 
myself  rather  than  for  thee;  and  for  this,  I  condemn 
myself  before  thee ;  and  I  err  also,  in  feeling  sometimes 
as  if  I  were  going  to  effect  something  by  the  simple 
force  of  argument  or  power  of  persuasion.  Oh,  that 
a  sense  of  my  dependance  on  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
for  the  success  of  my  ministration,  were  wrought  into 


24  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

me,  so  that  I  could  never,  never  lose  it ;  with  his  glory 
for  my  aim,  and  his  strength  for  my  aid,  what  might 
I  not  accomplish,  or  rather  what  would  he  not  accom- 
plish by  me ! 

"April  30,  1830,  It  is  awful  to  make  use  of  the 
cross  of  Christ  as  a  ladder  to  distinction.  I  am  reading 
Pay  son's  life  ;  what  a  man !  Can  my  character  be  the 
same,  even  in  kind,  with  his  ]  In  degree,  how  dissim- 
ilar it  certainly  is.  But  what  he  was,  grace  made  him ; 
and  the  same  it  can  make  me.  I  observe  this  as  a  day 
of  abstinence  and  special  prayer.  My  body  must  be  kept 
under.  Did  Paul  feel  the  necessity  of  this,  and  should 
not  1 1  Effort  is  much  easier  than  self-denial.  I  can 
more  easily  and  cheerfully  make  many  wearisome 
efforts,  than  practice  one  act  of  abstinence.  Therefore 
the  latter  is  the  better  test  of  character. 

"June  22,  1830.  I  have  never  found  any  thing 
but  pain  in  self-indulgence,  and  never  any  thing  but 
the  sweetest  pleasure  in  self-denial,  and  yet,  so  in- 
fatuated and  so  depraved,  I  will  indulge  myself,  and 
will  not  deny  myself.  Oh,  how  deceitful  is  sin !  It 
does  not  merely  deceive  once,  but  the  same  sin  will, 
over  and  over  again,  successfully  practice  the  very 
same  deceit. 

July  15,  1830.  I  have  been  away  from  my  people 
nearly  three  weeks  ;  and  the  Lord  has  preserved  me 
and  my  family,  and  increased,  as  he  is  hourly  increas- 
ing, the  debt  of  gratitude  I  owe  him.  But  how  slack 
am  I  to  pay,  and,  indeed,  how  unconscious  often  of  the 
debt.  Surely,  the  least  we  can  return  for  goodness  is 
gratitude.     How  far  am  I  from  God !     Far  as  I  ordi- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  25 

narily  am,  one  of  these  journeys  puts  me  farther  still. 
It  is  time  I  should  return,  and  henceforth  follow  the 
Lord  fully. 

"October  13,  1830.  This  day  I  complete  my 
thirty-third  year.  Hitherto  hath  the  Lord  helped  me, 
and  yet  how  little  have  I  done  for  him  !  Let  gratitude 
and  repentance  mingle  in  my  exercises  to-day,  in  view 
of  the  reflections,  how  great  his  goodness,  and  how 
great  my  unfaithfulness. 

"November  24,  1830.  I  have  been  useless  for  some- 
time past,  in  consequence  of  a  hacking  cough.  I  find 
bodily  indisposition  by  no  means  favorable  to  the  health 
of  the  soul. 

"April  20,  1831.  How  long  it  is  since  I  made  any 
record  here ;  and  yet  I  have  had  much  of  the  goodness 
of  God  to  record.  I  have,  in  the  interval,  been  at 
W ,  and  the  Lord  has  honored  my  unworthy  instru- 
mentality. To-day  I  have  heard  that  some  brethren 
from  New  York  will  be  here  to  help  me.  Oh  that  God 
would  come  with  them,  else  they  come  in  vain ;  and  let 
us  not  place  dependance  on  them — remembering  that 
he  is  a  God,  jealous  for  his  glory.  Oh,  my  God,  do, 
for  thy  great  and  holy  name's  sake,  make  this  a  time 
of  stupendous  mercy  to  this  portion  of  thy  Zion — a 
season  memorable  and  to  be  remembered  with  joy 
throughout  eternity  !  Oh,  that  our  unworthiness  may 
not  stand  in  the  way  of  God !  It  will  not.  Oh  that  he 
would  make  us  humble  and  contrite,  and  prepare  us  to 
be  blessed. 

"April  28,  1831.  Well,  I  can  say  with  the  Psalmist 
now,    'Verily   God   hath    heard ;  he  hath  attended  to 


26  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

the  voice  of  my  prayer ;  blessed  be  God,  who  hath  not 
turned  away  my  prayer,  nor  his  mercy  from  me.' 
Though  we  were  but  poorly  prepared  to  receive  him, 
and  owe  to  him  the  little  preparation  we  had,  yet 
he  has  come,  and  beheld  with  pity  our  desolations. 
Thanks  to  his  name  ;  may  he  not  suffer  us  to  grieve 
his  Holy  Spirit.  And  may  he  multiply  the  wonders  of 
his  grace,  and  never  leave  us  more.  May  we  all  lie 
low  in  the  dust  before  him,  and  give  him  the  glory. 

"  May  12,  1831.  Some  drops  of  mercy  have  fallen. 
Some  dozen  souls,  I  hope,  have  been  recently  converted 
to  God.  Glory  to  him  for  this.  But  is  this  all  1  Doth 
not  an  abundant  shower  await  us  1  Oh  that  the  ap- 
pearances of  rain  may  not  pass  off,  as  in  nature  they 
sometimes  do,  and  leave  us  still  desolate  and  dry !  Oh, 
may  every  christian  reverently  resolve,  'I  will  not  let 
thee  go,  except  thou  bless  us.'  Alas,  1  am  not  in  that 
frame  of  spirit  in  which  I  ought  to  be.  Help  me,  O 
Lord,  from  this  moment  forth,  to  be  more  grave,  self- 
denied,  humble,  anxious,  prayerful ! 

"June  14,  1831.  Oh  that  I  had  such  views  always, 
as  I  have  sometimes ;  that  I  felt  uniformly  as  I  feel 
occasionally ;  how  different  a  being  I  should  be  !  Some- 
times I  have  a  transient  view  of  the  divine  conde- 
scension, which  is  inexpressibly  affecting,  but  soon  I 
lose  it. 

"June  22,  1831.  I  am  dissatisfied  with  my  present 
state,  and  yet  have  not  energy  enough  to  attempt 
reformation. 

"June  28,  1831.  Yesterday,  I  spent  a  pleasant, 
and  I  hope  a  profitable  day ;  but  I  have  not  the  same 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  27 

prospect  to-day.  I  can  easily  trace  all  my  disquiet  and 
unhappiness  to  sin.  Oh,  if  it  were  not  for  that ;  and 
yet  how  I  cleave  to  it ;  how  loth  I  am  to  part  with 
it !     I  pray  to  be  delivered  from  it. 

"September  16,  1831.  This  day  my  dear  brother 
Richard  died ;  I  arrived  in  New  York  the  evening  before. 
Little  did  I  think  I  came  to  see  a  beloved  brother  die. 
But  I  thank  God,  that  since  it  was  to  be,  I  was  permit- 
ted to  be  present ;  and  oh,  I  bless  him  that  he  gave 
me  hope  in  the  death  of  my  brother.  We  prayed  that 
if  he  might  not  be  spared  to  us,  he  might,  nevertheless, 
leave  some  testimony  behind,  that  all  was  well  with 
him;  and  scarcely  had  we  ceased  praying,  when  in 
conversation  with  me,  he  expressed  his  hope  in  Christ, 
and  the  preciousness  of  the  Saviour  to  him,  and  how 
wretched  he  would  be  at  such  a  time,  without  a  hope 
in  Christ;  and  he  said  substantially  the  same  to  Rufus. 
Was  not  this  in  answer  to  our  prayer  1  Do  we  deceive 
ourselves  in  thinking  so  1  It  comforts  me  too,  to  learn 
from  various  sources,  that  his  mind  had  been,  for 
many  months  before,  exercised  on  the  subject  of  reli- 
gion. Thanks  be  to  God,  therefore,  that  I  sorrow  not 
for  him  as  one  without  hope.  God  forgive  all  my 
unfaithfulness  to  this  dear  brother.  Alas,  my  dear 
brother,  my  beloved  Richard,  art  thou  gone  !  Oh  my 
brother,  I  sometimes,  in  the  multitude  of  other  thoughts, 
for  a  while  forget  thee,  but  when  the  remembrance  of 
thee  returns,  my  heart  can  bleed  afresh  for  thee !  Oh 
Richard,  thou  wast  the  brother  next  to  me,  my  com- 
panion, and  thou  art  gone  !  Thou  stoodst  beside  me 
when  I  was  married  !     Oh  Richard,  would  that  I  could 


28  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

now  do  something  for  thee !  but  oh,  I  trust  thou 
needest  no  human  ministrations.  I  trust  that  through 
abundant  mercy  thou  art  with  Jesus,  who  will  never  let 
thee  want  any  thing.  Oh  God,  let  the  remembrance 
of  my  brother  ever  keep  me  serious  and  tender.  Blessed 
be  God,  that  our  dear  babe,  though  brought  very  low, 
was  raised  up,  and  that  William  also,  is  spared  to  us. 
I  never  went  away  from  home  with  so  clear  a  con- 
Bcience,  and  yet  never  has  any  visit  been  so  interrupted 
by  sickness  and  death.      The  Lord's  will  be  done. 

^'  January  8,  1832.  Oh  that  the  glory  of  God  may 
appear  to  me  as  alone  worthy  of  being  aimed  at.  For 
that  may  I  live ;  and  when  that  will  be  most  promoted 
by  my  death,  may  I  be  willing  to  die  !  Oh  how  would 
earth  sink  in  my  esteem,  if  heaven  were  not  so  very 
dimly  descried  by  me ;  how  different  death  would 
appear  to  me,  if  I  regarded  it  as  but  the  avenue  to 
glory.  Oh  that  I  may  find  my  supreme  satisfaction  in 
holy  and  divine  things !  Oh  that  I  may  value  and 
desire  above  all  things  else,  communion  with  God. 

"January  10,  1832.  Only  two  days  ago,  I  was 
lamenting  over  my  uselessness,  and  especially  over  the 
inefficacy  of  my  sermons,  and  yet  that  very  day,  God 
had  been  blessing  the  short  and  hastily  prepared  dis- 
course I  preached,  to  the  few  that  came  together  in 
spite  of  the  storm.  I  had  passed  a  melancholy  day 
to-day,  and  it  was  about  closing  in  gloom,  when  a 
promising  youth  came  in  to  talk  with  me,  on  the  great 
concern  of  salvation,  to  which  his  attention  had  been 
remarkably  called  on  the  Sabbath.  Oh  the  goodness  of 
God  to  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least  of  his  mercies ; 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  29 

what  an  honor  to  be  the  instrument  of  awakening-  and 
savingly  benefiting  a  soul !  Oh  may  the  dear  youth 
be  taught  and  drawn  of  God.  Then,  indeed,  he  will 
come  to  Jesus,  and  my  hope  concerning  him  shall 
not  be  disappointed. 

"August  2,  1832.  Sometimes  I  think  I  would  like 
to  send  out  a  tract  or  a  sermon,  but  I  am  arrested  by 
the  fear  that  I  should  not  do  it  from  a  right  motive. 

"August  28,  1832.  The  cholera  is  raging  in  the 
midst  of  us,  but  praised  be  God,  I  and  mine  are  spared, 
not  for  our  deserts,  but  for  his  great  mercies.  I  feared 
that  when  1  should  be  called  to  visit  a  subject  of  this 
disease,  I  should  be  appalled  at  the  prospect ;  but  when 
the  summons  actually  came,  I  was  enabled  to  obey  it 
without  the  smallest  hesitation  or  trembling,  and  to 
determine  at  once  to  comply  with  every  similar  call  in 
future,  the  which  I  have  been  aided  to  do.  God  gives 
his  servants  grace  just  when  they  want  it;  not  in 
anticipation  of  their  necessities.  When  I  think  of 
dying,  I  feel,  if  not  an  unpreparedness,  yet  an  unwil- 
lingness to  leave  the  world  now,  and  an  inability  to 
exclaim,  'Oh  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  but  I  trust  it 
would  not  be  so,  were  I  actually  called  to  die.  I  am 
persuaded  there  is  nothing  which  the  grace  of  God 
cannot  do  for  me. 

"November  20,  1832.      On  the  26th  of  September, 

I  was  taken  ill  of  a  bilious  fever,  by  which  I  have  been 

laid  aside  until  now,  and  from  which,  I  have  not  yet 

entirely  recovered.     What  thanks  do  I  not  owe  to  my 

preserving    God,    that   he    spared   me   when   so  many 

others  were  taken !     How  gracious  was  he,  when  the 
3* 


30  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

pangs  were  upon  me!  But  now,  that  they  are  re- 
moved, how  soon  I  forget  God!  I  am  afraid  my 
sickness  has  not  been  sanctified  to  me.  I  find  the 
same  wicked  heart  in  me  as  ever.  Oh  how  sinfully  I 
live  from  day  to-day !  How  I  suffer  little  matters  to  dis- 
turb my  peace  and  ruffle  my  temper,  and  lead  me  into 
sin !  How  the  very  minutiee  of  this  world  affect  me ! 
I  am  ashamed  of  the  petty  cares  and  anxieties  of  which 
I  am  the  subject.  I  am  careful  and  troubled  about 
many  things,  and  so  neglect  the  one  thing  needful ; 
and  then  how  many  fears  I  have,  unworthy  of  a 
christian.  Oh  for  that  perfect  love  which  casts  out 
fear;  oh,  to  know  that  I  am  one  to  whom  the  gracious 
God  says,  '  fear  thou  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  ;  I  am 
thy  God.' 

"July  3,  1833.  I  would  to-day  renew  the  dedica- 
tion of  my  dear  children  to  God.  Lord  they  are  thine; 
I  give  them  to  thee  ;  let  them  be  thine.  Let  me  not  be 
such  a  parent  to  them  as  Eli  was.  I  am  very  much  in 
danger  of  erring  on  the  side  of  indulgence. 

"July  9,  1833.  I  have  been  reading  Baxter  on  our 
unreasonable  unwillingness  to  die,  that  we  may  possess 
the  saint's  rest.  Oh  that  God  would  make  me  willing 
to  do  and  suffer  all  his  will,  just  because  it  is  his  will. 
Oh  that  he  would  deliver  me  from  all  fear  of  death. 
His  grace  is  sufficient,  and  his  word  is  given,  and  his 
promise  is  sure.  I  will  trust  him  and  not  be  afraid. 
I  shall  not  be  left.  He  will  not  disappoint  my  con- 
fidence in  him. 

"August  15,  1833.  I  have  heard  that  God  has 
already  blessed  my  Tract.     Can  it  be  ?     Blessed  be  his 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  31 

gracious  name  !  May  I  remember,  as  I  taught  last 
night,  that  the  kind  with  which  I  have  to  do,  goeth  not 
forth  but  by  prayer  and  fasting. 

"August  17,  1833.  I  have  about  me  a  dread  of 
disease  and  death,  such  as  I  was  not  wont  to  have 
before  the  pestilence  came,  and  which  is  very  unbe- 
coming a  Christian.  Oh  to  be  delivered  from  it.  Oh 
for  that  love  which  casts  out  fear. 

"September  9,  1833.  I  should  bless  God  for  all  I 
have  which  is  above  hell.  Oh,  that  he  would  touch 
my  heart  with  gratitude,  and  fill  my  soul  to  overflowing 
with  love. 

"September  13,  1833.  I  cannot  bear  the  idea  of 
living  along  from  day  to  day,  unprofitably  to  myself 
and  others,  without  making  any  progress  in  personal 
holiness,  and  without  benefiting  the  souls  of  others.  I 
desire  this  day  to  live  usefully — to  do  something  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  man,  and  I  resolve  that 
with  the  Lord's  help  I  will. 

"September  26,  1833.  I  would  not  let  this  day 
pass,  without  noting  it  as  the  anniversary  of  my  sick- 
ness. This  day,  one  year,  I  was  attacked  by  that 
illness,  which  brought  me  nearer  the  grave  than  I  ever 
was  before.  But  God  mercifully  spared  me,  and  has 
lengthened  out  my  term,  while  he  has  cut  short  that 
of  others.  Poor  brother  Fullerton  is  taken  in  the  dawn- 
ing of  life  and  usefulness. 

"December  21,  1833.  I  thank  the  Lord  for  that 
calm  and  even  and  happy  state  of  mind  in  which  I 
have  been  for  the  last  few  days.  May  he  continue  and 
increase  my  peace,  making  it  like  a  river,  flowing  in  a 


32  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

constant,  gentle  and  umippled  current,  increasing  daily 
in  extent  and  depth,  until  it  shall  reach  the  intermina- 
ble ocean  of  serenity.  I  feel  as  if  God  will  revive  us. 
Oh  may  he  not  be  offended  by  any  act  or  omission. 
May  none  of  us  grieve  the  good  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 

"January  30,  1834.  Nothing  gives  me  more  pam 
than  the  fear  that  1  am  living  to  no  purpose,  neither 
growing  in  grace  myself,  nor  promoting  the  salvation 
of  others.  Oh  God,  let  it  not  be  so.  Make  me  useful. 
Let  me  not  live  in  vain. 

"  I  desire  to  have  these  several  things,  viz. 

"  1.    In  all  I  do,  a  single  eye  to  the  glory  of  God. 

"  2.  A  uniform  and  deep  sense  of  my  entire  depen- 
dance  on  God,  especially  for  the  success  of  my  ministry. 

"  3.  I  desire  to  feel  continually  the  sweet  and 
powerful  constraining  of  a  Saviour's  love.  I  would 
feel  him  to  be  ever  and  very  precious  to  me. 

"  4.  I  would  endure  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible. 
I  would  feel  continually,  '  Thou  God  seest  me.' 

"5.  I  desire  to  be  delivered  from  all  sin.  I  would 
be  a  partaker  of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ. 
I  would  be  sincere,  upright,  true. 

"  6.  I  desire  to  be  able  to  say,  '  Whom  have  I  in 
heaven  but  theel  and  there  is  none  on  earth  I  desire 
besides  thee.'  Oh  to  have  such  a  love  for  God  and 
such  a  delight  in  him. 

"  7.  I  desire  to  be  willing  to  die,  whenever  the  Lord 
wills  to  take  me.  I  want  to  be  weaned  from  this  world 
before  I  am  taken  from  it.  I  would  not  be  driven  away. 
I  would  go  willingly. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.  D.  33 

"8.  I  desire  to  have  no  will  of  my  own  in  any 
thing,  but  to  say  and  feel  always,  '  Thy  will  be  done,' 

"February  3,  1834.  The  Lord  helped  me  to  preach 
yesterday,  and  I  hope  he  blessed  the  word.  He  does 
not  allow  planting  and  watering  in  the  natural  world, 
without  following  it  with  an  appropriate  increase,  and 
will  he  in  the  moral  world  ?  Shall  his  word  be  the 
only  seed  that  does  not  produce  1  Shall  it  be  for  ever 
buried  in  the  soil  where  it  is  sown  1 

"  Oh  that  he  would  teach  me  how  to  preach,  and 
then  bless  his  word  declared  after  his  own  manner.  I 
long  to  be  useful.  While  such  multitudes  are  pulling 
down,  may  1  build  up.  1  choose  for  my  motto  this,  '  To 
me  to  live  is  Christ.' 

"February  4,  1834.  Oh  to  be  like  Christ.  I  would 
be  satisfied  with  nothing  short  of  this — to  be  meek, 
forbearing,  forgiving,  gentle,  patient,  submissive  as  he 
was.  This  is  the  standard  which  I  should  and  would 
set  up  before  me.  How  easily  we  satisfy  ourselves 
that  we  are  Christians  ! 

"February  23,  1834.  Oh  that  God  would  produce 
in  me  and  in  my  people  a  sense  of  dependance  on  him ; 
until  which,  religion  cannot  flourish  among  us.  I 
desire  to  feel  a  deep,  habitual,  humble  sense  of  depen- 
dance entire  on  God;  thereby  honoring  him  as  the 
source  of  all  good  and  the  author  of  all  success.  I 
would  precede,  attend  and  follow  every  thing  with 
prayer  for  the  divine  blessing.  No  word  which  proceeds 
out  of  my  mouth,  nor  any  production  of  my  pen,  can 
effect  any  thing  without  God.  I  would  always  give 
him   the   glory — the    undivided    glory.     Will    he   very 


34  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

giaciously  deign  to  bless  what  I  have  published  1  As 
an  act  of  condescension  and  compassion  will  he  do  it  1 
Whenever  I  take  my  pen  to  write  either  for  the  pulpit 
or  the  press,  may  I  fix  my  eye  on  God,  and  may  his 
glory  be  my  object.     Lord  grant  it. 

"May  3,  1834.  I  returned  yesterday  from  Philadel- 
phia and  New  York,  where,  for  three  or  four  weeks,  I 
have  been  for  my  health,  which  has  failed  me.  The 
Lord  has  laid  me  aside  from  his  active  service,  for  how 
long  I  know  not ;  whether  altogether,  he  knows.  May 
his  will  be  mine,  and  may  they  not  merely  accidentally 
coincide,  but  may  his  will  be  mine  because  it  is  his. 
On  the  first  of  May,  in  Philadelphia,  I  wrote  as  follows  : 
O  Lord,  let  me  have  now,  though  all  unworthy,  a  little 
sweet  communion  with  thee :  canst  thou,  with  all 
thy  care  of  worlds,  attend  to  me  1  Thou  canst,  for 
even  worlds  are  no  cares  to  thee  !  And  wilt  thou  1 
Wilt  thou  so  condescend,  not  merely  to  such  littleness, 
but  to  such  guilt  ?  O  how  unworthy  I  am  of  what  I 
ask  !  I  am  convinced  that  no  one  is  more  unworthy 
than  I  am.  How  can  any  one  be  more  unworthy  1  If 
mercy  were  any  thing  merited,  I  should  be  sure  of 
never  receiving  it.  Oh  how  1  spoil  my  actions  by  my 
motives  !  My  heart  is  not  right  even  when  my  conduct 
is.  Oh  thou  who  ponderests  hearts  and  weighest 
spirits,  sanctify  my  motives.  Make  them  such  as  thou 
wouldst  have  them. 

"May  6,  1834.  I  ask  not,  O  Lord,  that  thy  will 
may  coincide  with  mine,  but  mine  with  thine.  I 
am  only  in  a  very  subordinate  sense  in  the  hands  of 
physicians  and   other   advisers.      I  am   in   the   Lord's 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  35 

hands.  There  I  ought  to  be.  There  may  I  delight  to 
be.     O  for  confidence. 

"May  13,  1834.  Will  the  Lord  deign  to  restore  my 
voice  to  me,  and  to  allow  me  once  more  to  preach 
Jesus'?  I  am  not  needed;  and  I  am  unworthy.  But 
many  such  he  employs.  I  shall  esteem  it  a  great  favor. 
I  shall  praise  him  forever  for  it.  I  am  too  fond  of  life 
and  this  world.  Oh,  I  am  too  unwilling  to  die.  I 
cannot  say  to  death,  'Where  is  thy  sting?'  I  would  be 
weaned  from  earth  and  time.  I  would  desire  to  depart 
and  be  with  Christ.  I  would  see  and  feel  that  to  be 
far  better.  Oh  for  sweet  and  complete  submission  to 
the  divine  will. 

"May  20,  1834.  Will  the  Lord  dictate  the  means  I 
should  employ  for  the  recovery  of  my  health,  and  then 
bless  those  means.  O  may  I  love  Jesus  more  before  I 
preach  him  again,  and  have  a  clearer  and  more  satis- 
factory experience  of  the  work  of  grace  on  my  own 
heart,  that  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart,  my 
mouth  may  henceforth  speak  to  sinners.  I  would  be 
careful  for  nothing,  but  in  every  thing  by  prayer,  &c. 
Phil,  iv,  6.  Then  I  shall  enjoy  that  peace  of  God, 
which  passeth  all  understanding. 

"May  24,  1834.  How  I  am  held  in  bondage  by  the 
fear  of  death  !  O  that  Christ  would  deliver  me  !  It 
was  one  great  purpose  of  his  death,  to  deliver  those 
who,  through  fear  of  death  are,  all  their  lifetime, 
subject  to  bondage.  Strange  that  I  should  be  afraid 
and  unwilling  to  go  to  my  Father,  to  my  Saviour,  to  my 
home  and  inheritance.  Ah,  it  is  because  of  unbelief. 
Last  night  I  waked  up  with  a  pain  in  my  breast,  ajid 


36  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

how  unduly  it  alarmed  me — how  unmanly,  above  all, 
how  unchristian  are  my  fears  !  O  that  God  would  say 
to  me,  '  fear  thou  not,  for  I  am  with  thee  ;  be  not  dis- 
mayed, for  I  am  thy  God,' — that  he  would  speak  these 
words  to  my  heart.  O,  I  needed  this  affliction,  and  I 
ought  not  to  desire  its  removal  until  it  has  answered 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  sent,  I  have  been  an 
unfaithful  minister.  I  wonder  God  should  have  borne 
with  me  so  long.  Wonderful  is  the  patience  of  God  ! 
To  reflect  on  it,  will  be  among  the  employments  of 
eternity ; — to  contemplate  and  admire  the  long-suffer- 
ing and  forbearance  of  God  !    How  slow  he  is  to  anger ! 

"  My  throat  affection  seems  not  so  well  for  the  last 
few  days.  But  let  not  this  distress  me.  I  am  in  the 
best  hands — in  hands  divine — in  the  very  hands  that 
were  pierced  for  me,  and  from  which  no  foreign 
power  can  pluck  me.  If  I  die,  yet  dying  is  not  going 
out  of  those  hands,  or  if  it  is,  it  is  going  from  the  hands 
to  the  bosom  of  God, — a  gainful  and  blessed  exchange. 
Will  the  Lord  dictate  what  means  I  shall  use  for  re- 
covery, and  bless  those  means,  else  the  most  wisely 
adapted  will  be  of  no  avail. 

"  May  27,  1834.  What  would  become  of  me  but  for 
grace  !  O  rejoice  and  praise  God  that  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  grace,  and  that  it  is  free,  rich,  abundant,  and 
adapted  to  all  circumstances  and  cases. 

"June  1,  1834.  Again,  as  last  Sunday,  I  am  de- 
tained from  the  house  of  God,  and  it  is  now  more  than 
two  months  since  I  preached.  The  Lord  has  some 
object  in  this  affliction.  May  I  not  defeat  it.  O 
how  strange  it  seems  to  me  to  have  no  voice  to  preach 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  37 

of  Jesus.  Shall  I  never  again  be  permitted  to  tell 
sinners  of  him  ?  Will  the  Lord  counsel  me  in  regard 
to  going  to  Norfolk  to-morrow.     Let  thy  will  be  done. 

0  Lord,  thou  canst  make  me  well,  and  thou  canst 
make  me  holy;  speak  but  the  word,  and  I  shall  be 
whole  both  in  body  and  in  soul.  Thou  art  the  phy- 
sician of  both.  Thou  alone  canst  mend  thy  own 
work.  O  for  the  privilege  of  preaching  the  gospel 
again  !  Lord  sanctify  this  affliction  to  me.  Help  me  to 
cast  my  burden  on  thee,  and  to  make  the  best  of  every 
thing. 

"June  4,  1834.  I  am  at  Norfolk  for  the  benefit  of 
my  health.  How  vain  are  all  means  without  God's 
blessing !  And  what  slight  remedies  prove  successful 
in  his  hands  !  May  he  bless  the  retirement  this  visit 
affords  me  to  my  soul !  Ah,  this  is  what  is  most  out  of 
order.  I  ask  for  health,  but  for  grace  I  cry.  Lord, 
hear  my  cry.  I  cannot  move  along  without  grace. 
Grace  I  ask,  to  be,  and  do,  and  suffer  all  thou  wilt  have 
me  to.  If  Christ  has  no  more  work  for  me  to  do,  how 
little  he  lets  me  off  with  ;  for  how  very  little  I  liave 
done  for  him.  I  have  not  been  laborious  for  my 
Saviour ;    and  much  that  I  have  seemed  to  do  for  him, 

1  have  reason  to  fear  has  been  done  for  myself.  Why 
should  I  not  be  willing  to  be  released  from  further 
labor,  if  the  Lord  has  no  more  for  me  to  do.  O,  why  so 
very  reluctant  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ.  Will  the 
Lord  be  my  wisdom  and  strength  to-day. 

"June  20,  1834.  I  am  in  New  York  again  for  my 
health.  I  bless  the  Lord  that  I  seem  to  be  getting 
better.      May  he  bless  this   absence  to  me,  and  send 


38  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OP 

me  home  soon  to  preach  the  gospel,  feeling  as  I  have 
never  felt  before,  how  great  a  privilege  it  is.  Oh  what 
a  favor  !  what  an  honor  ! — to  be  permitted  to  preach 
Jesus  to  poor  dying  sinners.  So  far  are  the  most  labo- 
rious and  faithful  ministers  from  laying  God  under 
obligation  to  them,  that  he  lays  them  under  unspeak- 
ably great  obligations  to  him  by  allowing  them  to  labor 
in  his  vineyard.     So  I  feel,  O  thank  the  Lord. 

"  I  am  in  quest  of  health.  How  much  more  important 
to  '  follow  holiness  !'  I  hope  I  desire  the  latter,  the 
rather  of  the  two — holiness,  conformity,  moral  con- 
formity to   God,  submission  to  his  holy  will. 

"July  9,  1834.      I  am  a  second  time  at  West  Point. 

1  trust  the  Lord  orders  all  my  movements,  since  I  com- 
mit my  way  to  him.  I  resolved  that  this  intensely  hot 
day  should  not  be  a  lost  day,  as  yesterday  seemed  to 
be,  God  help  that  it  may  not  be.  To-day  may  I  have 
sweet  converse  with  God,  and  grow  in  grace  ripening 
for  heaven.  I  have  been  meditating  with  some  comfort 
on  those  divine  words,  '  accepted  in  the  beloved.'  It  is 
sweet  to  be  accepted  of  God  on  any  grounds  ;  but  to  be 
accepted  in  his  own  beloved  Son,  sweeter  far.  Also  on 
this  passage,  '  our  citizenship  is  in  heaven.'  As  truly 
as  I  am  a  citizen  of  Baltimore,  I  am  of  heaven,  and 
how  much  superior  the  latter  privilege !  I  want  to  be 
able   to   use   the   confident   language  which  I  read  in 

2  Cor.  V,  1,  and  onward. 

"July  11,  1834.  I  must  record  it  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  God,  that  I  feel  better  to-day  than  I  have  felt 
since  I  was  taken  sick.  May  I  increase  in  holiness 
more   rapidly  than   in  health,  being   strengthened  in 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  39 

the  inner  as  well  as  outer  man.  O  that  God  would 
give  me  the  *  earnest  of  the  Spirit,'  that  I  also  may  be 
always  confident,  that  in  being  absent  from  the  body  I 
shall  be  present  with  the  Lord.  I  am  persuaded  God 
will  be  my  counsellor. 

"July  20,  1834.  I  appear  now  to  be  getting  well, 
and  I  hope  soon  to  exercise  the  privilege  of  preaching. 
May  I  not  be  impatient, 

"August  18,  1834.  At  Salt  Sulphur  Springs, 
whither  the  Lord  has  brought  me.  How  much  reason 
I  have  to  trust  him,  derived  from  my  own  particular 
history.  I  admire  his  forbearance  towards  such  a  rebel 
as  L  I  desire,  if  I  know  my  own  heart,  conformity  to 
his  image,  and  submission  to  his  will.  Oh  that  he 
would  deliver  me  from  all  my  sins  and  from  all  my  un- 
christian fears  ;  and  may  I  be  able  to  say  with  another, 
'  What  time  I  am  afraid,  I  will  trust  in  the  Lord.' 

"September  10,  1834,  This  day  week,  I  reached 
home  and  found  all  well.  Thanks  to  the  Lord.  He 
disappoints  all  my  fears.  He  realizes  all  my  hopes. 
How  highly  favored  are  we  : — our  city  healthy,  our 
family  well,  and  I  improving. 

"September  14,  1834.  To-day  I  have  enjoyed 
another  communion  season  with  my  people.  My 
health  is  manifestly  improving.  I  owe  it  to  the  good- 
ness of  the  Lord.  My  soul,  forget  not  all  his  benefits.  I 
have  been  enabled  to  pray  with  my  people,  and  even 
briefly  to  address  them,  without  injury  to  myself,  and 
I  trust,  with  satisfaction  to  them.  I  wonder  my  dear 
people  should  love  me  as  they  seem  to,     I  feel  unwor- 


40  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

thy  of  such  devoted  aflfection.  I  thank  the  Lord  that 
he  has  put  it  into  their  hearts  to  love  me. 

"  October  21,  1834.  Through  mercy,  I  am  nearly 
well.  Oh  that  my  soul  were  in  higher  health  and 
prosperity  !  Oh  that  1  were  a  meek  and  lowly  Chris- 
tian ! — like  Christ !  I  pray  to  be  preserved  from  pride : 
how  odious  to  man  is  pride  ;  how  much  more  hateful 
to  God  it  must  be  !  Save  me  from  presumption,  and 
from  taking  to  myself  what  is  due  to  God.  May  I 
habitually  and  deeply  feel,  that  I  am  and  can  do 
nothing  good  without  God. 

"November  9,  1834.  Last  night,  at  a  quarter  be- 
fore twelve  o'clock,  the  desire  of  my  eyes,  my  beloved 
wife  was  taken  from  me  to  God.  He  took  her.  I  had 
often  consecrated  her  to  him.  And  he  but  claimed 
his  right.  He  took  her,  and  took  her,  I  believe,  to 
himself;  and  now,  but  for  God,  I  should  be  desolate 
indeed.  I  record  it  to  his  praise  that,  during  her  sick- 
ness, which  commenced  on  Friday  evening,  and  even 
until  now,  I  think  I  have  had  much  of  his  presence, 
and  have  been  supported  by  him.  Surely  grace  is 
a  reality,  a  precious  and  glorious  reality !  I  have 
found  it  so  the  last  two  days ;  and  I  bless  God,  that  I 
have  had  some  evidence  that  I  do  love  him.  I  have 
tried  to  honor  him  under  this  trial,  and  think  I  have 
been  enabled  to  do  so.  I  bless  his  name,  that  I 
have  been  kept  from  all  murmuring  and  complaining. 
Though  my  heart  has  bled,  it  has  not  rebelled. 

"  I  thank  the  Lord  for  all  I  have  to  comfort  me  in 
her  death.  I  began  early  to  ask  her  questions,  and 
was  always  satisfactorily  answered.     She  said  she  did 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    U.   D;  41 

love  Jesus,  and  trusted  she  was  going  to  him.  She 
prayed  sweetly  that  God  would  take  her  to  himself, 
not  because  of  any  worthiness  in  her,  but  alone  through 
the  merits  of  Christ.  She  spoke  much  of  her  unwor- 
thiness  and  of  her  wanderings  from  God.  She  felt 
that  her  walk  had  been  very  unworthy,  and  that 
through  mercy  alone  she  could  be  saved.  She  asked 
once  to  have  a  hymn  sung,  and  when  I  asked  what 
hymn,  she  said  that  about  crossing  over  Jordan,  which 
one  of  our  sister  sunq-.  She  uniformly  expressed 
resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  though  she  would  fain 
have  lived  longer  had  it  been  his  will.  She  said  she 
had  always  expected  that  the  prospect  of  death  would 
almost  frighten  her  out  of  existence,  but  now  she  saw 
no  terror  in  death,  and  she  trusted  it  was  grace  that 
took  away  that  dreads  Oh,  I  trust  it  is  all  well  with 
heri  Only  Friday  afternoon,  I  made  a  renew^ed  and 
special  consecration  of  her  unto  God,  and  my  prayer 
for  her  has  always  been,  first  sanctify  her  for  thyself, 
and  only  secondarily  have  I  prayed,  spare  her  to  me. 
That  she  might  love  Jesus  more  than  me,  I  have 
always  desired,  and  often  have  expressed  to  her  that 
desire.  That  prayer,  I  believe  has  been  heard,  though 
as  she  said,  she  loved  him  not  enough.  When  I  asked 
her  if  her  reliance  was  on  him,  she  said,  '  Yes,  entirely.'' 
"November  10,  1834.  To-day  the  separation  is 
complete.  The  precious  body  which  retained  its  sweet 
appearance  and  freedom  from  decay  to  the  last,  has 
been  laid  where  it  will  remain  until  the  resurrection 
morning,  and  I  have  come  home  to  my  desolate  house. 
The  light  and  charm  of  it  is  gone  for  ever  from  it.    Oh, 


42  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

what  a  sweet  home  she  made  it  to  me  !  Oh,  how  she 
loved  me  and  her  dear  children  !  But  I  must  not  think 
too  much  of  her.  Oh,  that  God  would  have  mercy  on 
me  now,  and  enable  me  to  make  that  use  of  this  dispen- 
sation that  he  would  have  me.  May  he  preserve  me 
from  every  murmuring  thought  and  word,  I  am 
tempted  sometimes  to  think  hard  of  it  that  I  have  been 
thus  dealt  with,  but  God  helps  me  to  repel  the  tempta- 
tion. The  thought  that  she  should  be  a  victim  of  the 
pestilence — that  she  should  die  by  this  new  form  of 
death,  troubles  me.  But  some  of  the  sweetest  Chris- 
tians and  holiest  servants  of  God  have  died  of  it.  Then 
I  sometimes  think,  how  strange  that  she  should  be  one 
of  the  few  victims  in  this  place.  But  why  not  she,  as 
well  as  any  other  ]  Why  should  the  mother  of  my 
children  be  exempted  more  than  another  mother  1  I 
want  to  feel  that  God  has  done  it — done  it  in  love  and 
for  my  good  and  the  good  of  others. 

"November  13,  1834.  Twelve  years  ago  to-day, 
we  were  married.  How  different  a  day  that  from  this ! 
But  God  can  make  even  this  brighter  than  that.  I 
trust  my  dear  wife  is  happier  to-day  than  she  was  this 
day  twelve  years.  And  why  should  I  not  be  happier 
in  God  to-day  than  I  was  in  her  that  day  1  I  wonder 
if  she  remembers  this  anniversary.  Oh,  that  I  had 
been  a  better  husband  to  her  !  But  God,  I  trust,  has 
forgiven  us  all.  I  feel  in  that  way  to-day,  that  if  God 
should  withdraw  himself  in  any  measure,  I  know  not 
what  would  become  of  me. 

"November  14,  1834.  I  want  to  rejoice  as  much  in 
the  prospect  of  returning  health  to  this  city,  and  in  the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  43 

recovery  of  others,  as  if  my  dear  wife  had  been  spared. 
Make  me  willing  to  be  alone  in  affliction,  if  that  is 
thy  will.  I  want  to  rejoice  in  God  in  existing  and 
reigning.  I  want  to  rejoice  that  he  is  all  he  is,  and 
that  he  does  all  he  does.  I  rejoiced  in  a  creature.  I 
desire  now  to  rejoice  in  my  Creator — to  rejoice  in  Christ 
Jesus,  and  in  the  prospect  of  the  heavenly  inheritance. 
Oh,  to  be  greatly  interested  also  in  the  salvation  of 
souls  !  May  I  labor  and  agonize  for  them.  Oh,  the 
pangs  I  feel — the  tears  I  shed — the  burden  I  bear. 
But  I  will  not  call  it  a  cruel  lot — a  hard  case.  God 
is  incapable  of  injustice,  or  of  unkindness.  I  must 
patiently  await  the  issue.  'Oh,  who  so  wise  to  choose 
our  lot  and  regulate  our  ways  !'  If  my  grief  were  ten- 
fold greater  than  it  is,  yet  God  would  be  just  and  good. 
There  is  nothing  in  his  nature  moving  him  to  treat  me 
unkindly,  and  certainly  nothing  external  to  him  tempt- 
ing him  to  such  an  act.  I  believe  that  God  is,  and  that 
he  is  possessed  of  all  possible  perfection  ;  that  he  could 
not  be  wiser  or  better  than  he  is ;  that  he  reigns 
and  ought  to  reign.  I  am  glad  he  does  reign.  Who 
else  is  qualified  to  reign  1  I  believe  his  will,  as  it  is 
preceptive,  ought  to  be  done,  and  as  it  is  providential, 
ought  to  be  submitted  to,  willingly  and  cheerfully  by 
all  his  creatures.  I  believe  that  he  is  to  be  praised  for 
all  he  does,  and  not  merely  for  a  part;  when  he  denies, 
as  well  as  when  he  bestows ;  when  he  taketh  away, 
equally  as  when  he  gives  ;  for,  what  he  takes  away,  he 
originally  gave,  and  the  benevolence  which  led  him  to 
give  it,  would  have  prompted  him  to  continue  it,  had 
there  not  been  some  good  reason  for  withdrawing  it. 


44  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

I  believe  that  God  has  removed  my  dear  wife  from  me  ; 
that  it  was  his  will  the  separation  should  take  place 
now  ;  and  I  believe  I  ought  to  be  entirely  submissive, 
and  that  in  so  far  as  I  am  not,  I  grievously  sin.  I 
acknowledge  that  I  both  deserved  and  needed  such  an 
affliction,  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  reason  to  com- 
plain of  God.  I  acknowledge  that  1  am  still  in  posses- 
sion of  ten  thousand  favors  from  his  hands,  and  that 
my  debt  of  gratitude  to  him  is  past  all  computation. 
Where  and  what  would  I  have  been  now,  but  for  his 
compassion  and  forbearance  1  How  entirely  without 
ease  and  without  hope  !  Should  a  creature,  treated  so 
much  better  than  he  deserves,  complain  of  his  benefac- 
tor 1  Shall  I  forget  the  twelve  years  of  sweet  union — 
the  four  dear  lovely  children  he  has  given  me  1  Shall  I 
forget  the  calm  and  comfortable  manner  of  her  death, 
and  the  kind  sympathy  that  has  been  felt  and  expressed 
for  me  1  Shall  I  forget  his  not  sparing  his  own  Son,  but 
delivering  him  for  us  all — the  innocent  for  the  guilty. 
Has  he  bereaved  me  1  Did  he  not  also  bereave  himself? 
Did  he  not  interpose,  when  my  dear  wife  was  suffering"? 
Neither  did  he,  when  his  own  dear  Son  was  suffering. 
Shall  I  wonder  that  the  cup  did  not  pass  from  me, 
when  a  bitterer  cup  did  not  pass  from  Christ  1  Oh, 
how  we  shall  rejoice  forever,  that  the  cup  did  not  pass 
from  Jesus;  and  so  may  my  whole  family  rejoice 
through  eternity,  that  the  cup  passed  not  from  our  lips. 
But  I  feel  keenly.  So  did  Jesus.  It  was  suffering 
none  the  less,  that  he  submissively  received  it. 

"November  21,  1834.     Just  two  weeks  ago  at  this 
hour,  my  dear  wife  was  out,  taking  her  last  walk  in 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  45 

the  streets  of  Baltimore.  Oh,  how  the  remembrance 
afflicts  me.  But  if  she  is  now  walking  the  golden 
streets  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  I  ought  to  be  satisfied. 
My  tears  flow  profusely  this  morning.  How  can  I  bear 
this  bereavement  without  grace  1  I  cannot — I  never 
can.  Oh  for  grace  !  God  can  make  up  this  loss.  Oh 
that  he  would.  He  had  a  right  to  recall  his  loan. 
Why  am  I  so  reluctant  to  yield  it  up?  He  has  only 
claimed  his  own  property.  It  was  his  own  creature  he 
took.  He  had  the  best  right  to  her.  Oh,  that  I  were 
not  so  much  in  love  with  earthly  happiness  !  Dear 
compassionate  Saviour,  have  mercy  on  me,  and  keep  me 
from  grieving  the  blessed  Comforter. 

"December  25,  1834.  Oh,  what  a  Christmas  is 
this  !  She,  with  whom  I  have  spent  twelve  of  these 
anniversary  days,  is  no  longer  with  me  !  But  I  should, 
nevertheless,  rejoice  in  the  event  which  this  day 
commemorates.  If  the  death  of  my  wife  makes  me 
sorrowful,  let  the  birth  of  my  Saviour  make  me  joyful. 
Oh,  where  is  Mary  to-day  1  Beholding,  I  trust,  the 
face  of  him  who  was  born  in  Bethlehem.  I  am  very 
unhappy;  more  so,  I  think,  than  a  Christian,  under  any 
circumstances,  ought  to  be.  My  faith,  it  seems  to  me, 
was  never  weaker. 

"May  10,  1835.  This  day,  one  year,  our  last  child 
was  born.  Poor  dear  babe,  she  had  a  mother  not  six 
months.  For  more  than  a  week,  I  have  been  afflicted 
with  an  extraordinary  lameness.  The  Lord  give  me 
patience." 


46  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

Extract  from  one  of  his  letters  : 

"  Baltimore,  September  3,  1833. 
*  *  *  *  "I  have  been  thinking  a  good  deal  to-day  of 
our  dear  departed  Richard.  His  memory  is  as  fresh  on 
my  heart,  as  on  the  day  he  died.  I  feel  inexpressibly, 
whenever  I  indulge  myself  in  thinking  of  him.  The 
world  seems  less  charming,  and  eternity  more  attract- 
ing, when  I  think  of  that  dear  brother  gone  thither.  I 
should  feel  insupportably,  but  for  the  hope  I  have  of 
his  salvation  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb.  I  can 
never  forget  that  goodness  of  God  which  so  ordered  it 
that  I  should  be  with  him  in  his  disease.  It  seems 
strange  that  it  should  have  been  so.  I  love  to  think 
of  that  circumstance.  *  *  *  *  Oh,  when  shall  all  I 
love  be  able  to  speak,  as  my  dying  brother  did,  of  the 
Saviour,  as  exceedingly  precious  to  the  souU" 

The  following  are  some  of  Dr.  Nevins'  views  respect- 
ing the  cholera  : 

"  Baltimore,  August  15,  183S. 
"  A  poor  white  man,  whom  I  had  known,  (a  drunk- 
ard) sent  for  me  at  eight  o'clock,  yesterday  morning. 
He  had  been  sick  three  or  four  hours.  I  saw,  conver- 
sed and  prayed  with  him.  He  died  at  one.  It  was  an 
undoubted  case  of  the  pestilence.  Very  likely  I  may 
not  be  called  to  another  while  it  continues  here.  I 
shall  act  prudently.  My  friends  need  not  be  at  all 
alarmed  about  me.  I  trust  that  I  have  one  who  takes 
care  of  me  when  I  am  engaged  in  the  dischage  of  my 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  47 

duty.  If  I  can  only  maintain  confidence  in  God,  I 
shall  feel  secure.  True,  there  is  scarce  a  hope  of 
benefiting  a  subject  of  the  cholera,  especially  if  he  has 
been  an  intemperate  man.  But  when  a  poor  mortal, 
about  to  die,  sends  imploringly  to  a  minister  of  Christ 
to  come  and  see  him,  I  think  there  is  more  danger  in 
refusing  than  in  complying  with  such  a  request." 

About  the  same  time.  Dr.  Nevins  addressed  his 
people  from  the  pulpit  as  follows  : 

"  There  is  a  great  deal  of  dying  now.  And  it  is 
apprehended  by  many  that  there  will  be  more.  Death 
is  abroad.  The  insatiate  archer  has  got  a  new  arrow 
in  his  quiver,  severer  and  sharper  than  any  of  the  rest. 
A  new  terror  clothes  the  brow  of  the  king  of  terrors. 
The  aged  are  sickening  and  dying,  nor  are  the  young 
men  and  maidens  exempt.  And  it  is  appointed  to  us 
to  die.  We  shall  be  sorry  to  part  with  any  of  you ;  but 
if  you  must  go,  we  cannot  feel  indifferent  as  to  hoic  and 
where  you  go.  There  is  a  direction  we  would  have  you 
take,  and  a  conveyance  we  would  have  you  employ. 
If  you  must  leave  earth,  let  it  be  for  heaven.  If  you 
must  go,  go  by  the  safe  way  and  regard  your  company. 
There  is  but  one  safe  way  into  eternity.  There  is  only 
one  rod  and  one  staff  that  can  comfort  in  death.  It  is 
not  morality,  nor  philosophy,  nor  the  poetry  of  Chris- 
tianity. And  there  is  but  one  companion  of  the  way, 
who  can  give  the  charm  of  society  to  death.  You 
know  his  name.  It  is  Jesus.  Oli,  that  you  did  but 
trust  in  him !     Oh,  if  you  only  loved  him !     Oh,  would 


48  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

you  but  obey  him !     Oh,  that  you  were  not  ashamed 
of  him !      Into  his  hands  I  am  willing  to  resign  you." 

As  early  as  January,  1831,  he  says  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend :  "  I  have  not  entirely  got  rid  of  the  hacking 
cough  I  had.     My  palate  is  still  a  little  too  long." 

A  distressing  illness  of  a  highly  nervous  character, 
just  succeeding  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera,  doubtless 
sowed  the  seeds  of  his  last  sickness,  though  he  thought 
otherwise.  In  his  letters  to  his  friends  he  often  alludes 
to  his  health,  and  generally  in  a  very  interesting  man- 
ner.    The  following  are  specimens  : 

"  New  York,  April  23,  1834. 
"  It  gives  me  much  satisfaction  to  hear  that  I  am  the 
subject  of  so  many  prayers,  and  yet  it  alarms  me  to 
think  that  I  should  have  had  so  many  praying  for  me 
so  long,  and  that  the  result  should  have  been  so  little 
spiritual  improvement  in  myself,  and  so  little  benefit 
through  my  instrumentality  to  others." 

"  New  York,  June  21,  1834. 
"  Health  is  a  precious  blessing,  but  it  is  not  the  blessing 
of  greatest  price.  Holiness  is  the  inestimable  pearl. 
What  a  wonderful  book  the  Bible  always  is,  but 
especially  sometimes.  How  it  speaks  to  the  heart  !  It 
seems  to  be  all  alive  !^^ 

Dr.  Nevins'  health,  during  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  1834,  considerably  improved,  as  he  thought;  but  it 
was    perhaps    no    solid    improvement.       And    in    the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  49 

autumn  of  that  year,  he  was  called  to  bury  his  beloved 
wife  and  her  mother; — events  which  had  no  small 
influence  over  his  mind,  and  perhaps  health  also.  He 
preached  his  last  sermon  on  the  1st  of  January,  1835. 
His  text  was  in  Micah  vii,  18,  "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto 
thee,  that  pardoneth  iniquity?"  Shortly  after  this,  he  went 
to  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  thence  to  St.  Croix. 
He  returned  in  May,  to  New  York,  then  to  German- 
town,  and  finally  to  Baltimore.  These  journeyings  and 
his  thoughts  and  feelings  are  thus  noticed  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages : 

'*  Baltimore,  November  12,  1834. 
"  Oh,  my  dear  friend  and  brother,  may  you  long, 
long  be  spared  the  agony  this  heart  has  endured  since 
I  left  the  above  sentence  unfinished.  I  was  writing  in 
my  parlor  after  tea  on  Friday  evening,  when  a  servant 
ran  down  to  tell  me  that  my  beloved  wife  was  very 
sick.  It  was  the  fatal  cholera,  and  in  a  few  hours  she 
sunk,  its  exhausted  victim,  leaving  me  alone  and  all 
desolate  but  for  God.  Yet,  though  she  sunk  its  victiniy 
she  was  in  death  the  victress,  triumphing  as  she  fell. 
I  have  great  comfort  in  her  death.  But  oh,  the  loss  of 
parents,  brothers,  children,  is  nothing  to  it.  And  yet, 
though  this  trial  be  great,  and  of  the  kind  the  greatest, 
yet  grace  is  greater,  as  I  have  found  in  my  own  recent 
and  present  experience.  I  have  been  buoyed  up  and 
supported,  as  only  the  everlasting  arms  can  buoy  up  and 
support.  God  ha.3  been  with  me,  and  I  have  found  no 
lack  of  sympathy  in  his  love,  no  deficiency  of  strength 
in  his  omnipotence.      Now  I  am   prepared  to   say  to 


50  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

every  body,  what  God  so  often  said  to  my  unbelieving 
heart  in  vain  :  Fear  not ;  only  trust  in  God.  He  can 
and  will  wonderfully  carry  you  through  all." 

^^  Baltimore,  November  18,  1834. 
"  The  vacancy  which  the  death  of  my  dear  wife  has 
created  in  my  affections,  I  would  not  have  filled  up 
with  any  thing  human.  May  God  himself,  my  glorious 
Creator,  my  merciful  Redeemer,  my  Sanctifier,  conde- 
scend to  occupy  it." 

"  Baltimore,  November  27,  1834. 
"  Every  day  I  feel  more  and  more  my  incomparable 
loss.  It  seems  to  me,  sometimes,  as  if  I  could  not  live 
under  my  sore  bereavement.  Oh,  to  think  that  I  may 
live  here  thirty  or  forty  years,  and  that  in  all  that 
time,  I  shall  never  look  on  her  sweet  face  again." 

"  Baltimore,  December  18,  1834. 

"  Yesterday  I  wrote  you  a  long  letter  and  afterwards 
burned  it.  In  it  I  said  that  we  were  all  well,  except  Mrs. 
Key,  who  was  gradually  recovering.  Now  I  can  say, 
we  are  all  well,  for  this  afternoon  at  four  o'clock,  she 
joined  Mary  in  the  circle  around  the  throne.  It  was 
quite  unexpected  to  us.  I  knew  not  of  her  being 
worse,  till  eight  or  nine  o'clock  last  night.  Either  she 
took  cold  or  caught  the  prevailing  influenza,  which 
attacked  her  chest  and  produced  effusion  on  the  lungs. 
She  was  too  enfeebled  to  bear  bleeding,  which  other- 
wise would  probably  have  relieved  her. 

"  Just  forty  days  after  my  dear  Mary  left  me,  her 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  51 

mother  followed.  Two  deaths  in  this  house  within  six 
weeks  !  What  a  new  state  of  things  !  I  have  seen 
not  only  the  daughter  but  the  mother  die.  I  have 
heard  the  death  groans  of  her  that  bore  and  nursed  my 
Mary.  It  was  enough  for  me  that  she  was  the  mother 
of  my  all.  She  died  not  so  easy  as  my  dear  one  did; 
but  I  confidently  believe  that  she  has  gone,  through 
grace,  to  glory.  They  have  met  in  heaven,  *  *  *  *  I 
must  have  done  with  earth,  and  look  away  toward 
heaven." 

"  Philadelphia,  February  26,  1835. 
"  How  is  my  dear  child  whom  I  left  sick,  and  my 
other  babes  1  I  did  not  know  how  much  I  loved  them, 
till  since  I  parted  from  them.  If  any  of  them  should 
get  sick,  let  me  know,  that  I  may  come  home  and  see 
them.  Dear  little  creatures,  motherless,  and  perhaps 
soon  to  be  fatherless.  I  have  been  very  desponding 
since  I  left  them,  but  feel  better  now.  They  have 
ordered  me  now  to  a  warm  southern  clime,  Bermuda  or 
Santa  Croix.  I  wish  my  people  would  pray  for  me, 
and  that  my  case  would  awaken  the  serious  concern  of 
the  church.  I  think  they  have  every  prospect  of  losing 
me  soon.  Oh,  that  they  would  pray  for  me  and  my 
dear  children.  Oh,  my  dear  children,  how  I  love 
them,  how  I  love  them." 

"  New  York,  March  10,  1835. 
*'  I  received  your  letter,  giving  me  an  account  of  the 
day  of  prayer.     It   caused   many   tears   of  gratitude. 
God  willing,  I  sail  at  eight  o'clock  to-morrow  for  St. 


52  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

Croix.  The  weather  to-day  is  delightful,  and  hope 
it  will  be  so  to-morrow.  Now  good  bye.  Kiss  my  dear 
children  for  me.     Oh,  how  I  love  them." 

St.  Croix,  March  30,  1835. 
**  Is  it  possible  ?  Can  it  be  that  I  am  here  in  the 
West  Indies,  while  my  dear  children  are  so  many  hun- 
dred miles  off?  It  is  even  so.  Far  away  from  all  I 
love,  and  I  feel  it  much  at  times.  Sometimes  so 
depressed,  that  I  think  we  have  seen  each  other  for  the 
last  time  on  earth,  and  that  my  poor  children  will  very 
soon  be  fatherless.  But  I  recover  myself,  and  try  not  to 
be  careful  for  any  thing,  but  to  cast  all  my  cares  on 
God,  and  to  rejoice  that  his  will  should  be  done.  How 
refreshing  a  letter  from  Baltimore  would  be  to-day.  I 
long  for  some  arrival  to  bring  me  one.  Oh,  where  are 
my  dear  children,  and  how  are  they  *?  I  suppose  dear 
William  is  in  New  York,  and  my  sweet  daughters  at 
home.  How  I  long  to  see  them.  I  daily  commit  and 
consecrate  them  to  God.  That  is  all  I  can  do.  We 
had  a  comfortable  voyage.  I  was  sea-sick  one  day. 
I  have  not  been  benefited — cough  increased,  and  much 
reduced — never  was  so  miserable.  But  hope  to  gain 
flesh  ;  the  climate  is  delightful — one  day  after  another 
the  same.  It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  that  so  many 
are  praying  for  me.  Give  my  special  love  to  all.  Oh, 
my  friend,  how  strangely,  yet  wisely  and  justly,  has 
the  Lord  dealt  with  me  of  late.  Oh,  November  7th, 
morning,  how  fair  the  prospect !  Now,  how  sad  the 
retrospect.  I  think  much  of  my  beloved  Mary.  Ah, 
I  have  to  restrain  my  thoughts  often,  they  are  attended 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  53 

with  so  much  emotion.  To  tkink  of  Mary,  sweet  Mary, 
is  to  feel,  and  my  poor  frame  won't  bear  the  feeling 
now.  Do  remind  my  children  of  lier,  I  do  not  want 
they  should  ever  forget  their  mother,  their  precious 
mother." 

"  St.   Croix,  April  20,  1835. 

"  Yesterday  was  the  sabbath,  yet  how  different  my 

sabbath  from  yours  !     Yesterday  was  the  first  sabbath 

they  have  had  English   preaching  since  I  have  been 

here.     On  this   holy  day,  I  have   been   compelled    to 

listen  to  the  incessant  chatter  of  the  numerous  blacks 

who  throng  the  streets,  and  who  make  it  a  day  of  sport 

and  noise.     Oh,  what  a  world  is  this  !     How  much  of  it 

is  still  subject  to  Satan.     How  few  of  all  mankind  seem 

to  have  any  fitness  for  heaven  or  any  knowledge  of 

Christ  1     How  thankful  we  ought  to  be  that  we  are 

not  poor  ignorant  slaves  !     Oh,  how  pleasant  it  is  for 

me  to  think  that  I  am  prayed  for  by  so  many  children 

of  God ;   and  yet,  I  sometimes  feel,  why  should  they 

waste  their  prayers  on  me  1     Let  them  rather  pray  for 

Zion — '  thy  kingdom  come.'     When  you  pray  for  me, 

always  also  pray  for  the   church,  the  world.     I  have 

improved   some  in  health,  but   not  as  rapidly  as  was 

expected.     I  have  still  three  or  four  weeks  to  stay,  and 

the  returning   voyage   may  be  more  salutary.     Oh,  I 

have  infinitely  more  consolation  than  I  deser\^e.     The 

cup   passed    not    from   him   whom    the    Father   heard 

always,  and  Grod  never  so  unveils  himself  as  in  seasons 

of  distress.     I   want  to   feel   that   nothing  essential  is 

altered  by  my  afflictions.      I  hope  my  letters  will  all 

5* 


64  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OP 

be  received — have  written  several.  Love  to  all  my 
dear  people ;  to  the  sick  say,  the  Lord  is  the  great 
physician,  and  if  he  does  not  restore  us  to  health  in  this 
life,  he  will  cure  us  of  all  ills  by  death.  Tell  those 
who  say  I  am  dear  to  them,  they  must  try  and  get 
weaned  from  me,  as  it  is  so  uncertain  whether  we  ever 
have  any  more  intercourse  on  earth ;  tell  them  they 
must  find  another  object  for  their  hearts  to  fix  on ;  or 
rather  tell  them  to  transfer  whatever  affection  they  feel 
for  their  unworthy  pastor,  to  '  Him  who  is  altogether 
lovely.'  Oh,  that  he  were  more  precious  to  us  all.  He 
is  worthy." 

"  St.  Croix,  May  4,  1835. 
*'  I  am  anxious  to  get  home.  Yet  I  can  hardly  feel 
that  Baltimore  is  home  any  longer.  Yet  I  wish  my  poor 
body  to  lie  and  rest  there  till  the  resurrection.  I  think 
I  shall  not  be  much  longer  with  you.  I  may  be  mis- 
taken.    The  Lord  will  direct." 

i 

"  St.  Croix,  May  8,  1835. 
*•  Six  months  to-day,  since  my  sweet  love  exchanged 
earth  for  heaven.  Oh,  my  friend,  have  you  thought  of 
itl  I  know  you  loved  her  ardently.  Oh,  how  I  suffer, 
yet  not  more  than  I  deserve.  The  wound  is  fresh  as 
ever ;  it  will  never  heal.  Why  should  ill  I  did  not 
know  before,  that  death  could  make  such  desolation." 

"  Germantown,  July  15,  1835. 
**  I  find  I  am  not  improving,  but  growing  weaker.     I 
hope  it  may  please  the  Lord  to  let  rae  live  along  until 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  65 

I  reach  Baltimore.  Oh,  I  want  to  be  once  more  in  that 
house  where  my  darling  Mary  died.  You  have  no  idea 
how  sick  I  am ;  and  I  feel  that  my  poor  miserable  im- 
perfect work  is  nearly  finished.  Who  ever  served  God 
worse  ?  No  one  ;  and  Jesus  never  had  so  miserable  a 
follower.  Sometimes  I  think  the  good  and  great  God 
may  interpose  and  spare  me  a  little  longer,  that  I  may 
serve  him  better,  and  do  a  little  more  for  the  one  who 
died  for  me.     His  will  be  done." 

From  Germantown  he  writes  to  a  friend  in  Baltimore, 
under  date  of  July  24,  1835  : 

"  Thank  you  for  your  letter.  You  will  not  have  to 
write  much  longer.  Think  I  shall  go  to  Baltimore 
next  week.  If  I  do  not  go  soon,  fear  I  shall  not  get 
there.  Love  to  all,  especially  the  afflicted.  Oh,  how 
I  should  love  to  comfort  the  mourners.  Yet  1  fear  I 
shall  comfort  no  more.  I  want  a  comforter  myself. 
Oh,  for  the  Comforter  to  come  and  abide  with  me.  Have 
often  seasons  of  great  distress  ;  then  again,  the  prospect 
brightens,  and  I  feel  an  assured  hope  that  Jesus  will 
prepare,  even  for  me,  a  mansion  in  his  Father's  house ; 
and  if  he  calls  me  soon  to  take  possession,  why  should 
we  complain  1 

After  returning  to  Baltimore,  Dr.  Nevins  wrote  but 
little.  But  he  said  many  things  to  his  attendants,  some 
of  which  may  be  usefully  preserved. 

To  one,  who  had  often  attempted  to  comfort  him  in 
former  days,   approaching  his  bed,  he  said,    "Do  not 


56  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

comfort  me,  you  need  not  comfort  me.  God  has  com- 
forted me."  At  another  time  he  said,  "Oh,  how  I 
should  like  to  write  an  article  on  being  '  Accepted  in 
the  Beloved.'  What  a  theme — 'Accepted  in  the  Be- 
loved!' '  Accepted  in  the  Beloved!'''  Again  he  said, 
"  Perhaps  notliing  has  quieted  my  mind  more  frequently 
than  those  words  in  one  of  Newton's  hymns  : 

'  His  way  was  much  rougher 
And  darker  than  mine ; 
Did  Jesus  thus  suffer, 
And  shall  I  repine  ? ' 

*  He  become  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross.'  What  language — ^Obedient  unto  death,  even 
the  death  of  the  cross.'"  At  another  time  he  said,  "I 
have  had  great  comfort  from  the  remark  of  a  brother, 
made  to  me  many  months  since,  who  said,  'It  was  im- 
possible for  God's  people  to  please  him  better  in  any 
way,  than  by  trusting  him.'     I  will  trust  him." 

To  a  brother  in  the  ministry,  he  said,  "  I  have  sa- 
crificed my  reputation  as  a  preacher,  that  I  might  have 
time  to  visit  the  poor,  the  sick  and  the  dying.  I  cannot 
tell  why  I  did  it,  unless  my  motive  was  pious."  To 
another,  he  said,  "  I  shall  not  be  here  long,  my  friend  ; 
preach  Christ — none  but  Christ — farewell  !  May  God 
bless  you."  To  another,  he  said,  "  I  would  love  to 
preach  the  gospel  once  more,  but  the  Lord  knows  best." 
In  his  last  sickness  he  read  a  good  deal.  He  was 
much  pleased  with  the  life  of  Harlan  Page,  and  men- 
tioned some  coincidences  in  their  respective  experiences. 
On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  September,  1835,  he  said. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  57 

*•  i  see  a  beauty  in  submission  to  the  will  of  God."  And 
on  the  morning  of  the  9th,  he  said  to  one,  *'  I  suppose 
you  have  been  told  that  1  had  a  bad  night,  but  it  is  a 
great  mistake.      It  has  been  a  glorious  night,  the  most 

pleasant  I  ever  had.     Tell  ,  if  he  only  knew  how 

much  consolation  religion  affords  me,  even  now,  he 
would  not  for  a  moment  delay  embracing  it." 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  being  in  session  in 
his  church,  he  sent  by  a  friend,  his  annual  contribution) 
and  sent  for  a  ministerial  brother,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Board,  to  come  to  his  room.  On  his  friend's 
coming  to  him,  he  said,  "  There  are  one  hundred  dollars 
for  the  Board.  It  is,  I  suppose,  the  last  donation  I  shall 
ever  make  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  If  you  see  any  suit- 
able way  of  saying  it,  I  would  like  to  have  it  known 
that  the  nearer  I  get  to  heaven,  the  dearer  is  the  cause 
of  missions  to  my  heart." 

On  the  morning  of  the  13th,  it  was  evident  the  time 
of  his  departure  was  drawing  nigh.  When  a  friend 
entered  his  room,  he  said,  "  I  am  near  my  home.  Bless- 
ed Saviour!  Satan,  I  think,  has  tried  to  disturb  me; 
but  I  have  looked  at  all  the  ground  of  my  hope,  and  I 
find  I  am  on  a  rock.  Yes,  I  am  going  /lomc."  After 
this,  for  many  hours,  he  said  but  little  until  after  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  reviving,  he  said,   "  Out 

of  weakness,   I  testify that  Jesus   and  his    religion 

are  sufficient.  I  should  like  to  talk  for  the  sake  of  you 
all.  I  feel  weak,  but  I  feel  peace  too.  O  Jesus,  I 
choose  thee,  but  thou  first  calledst  me.  I  do  not  know 
that  I  shall  be  able  to  say  any  thing  more."     In  a  few 


58  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

minutes,  his  strength  seemed  to  return,  and  he  said, 
"  Oh,  there  is  one  that  says,  '  Fear  not,  I  am  with 
thee' — '  be  not  dismayed.'  In  that  I  confide.  O,  blessed 
Lord,  thou  hast  said,  '  I  will  never  forsake  thee.'  He 
does  not  make  me  to  triumph  exactly,  but  I  have  every 
disposition.  'O,  to  grace  how  great  a  debtor, — daily 
I'm  constrained  to  be.'  Repeat  it,  'Jesus  sought."* 
Here  his  friend  repeated, 

"  Jesus  sought  me  when  a  streinger. 
Wandering  from  the  fold  of  God ; 
He,  to  rescue  me  from  danger, 
Interposed  his  precious  blood." 

"  That  will  do,"  he  said — "  I  mean  his  precious  blood 
will  do. — Yes,  yes — Jesus  is  on  the  other  side  of  Jor- 
dan— yes,  and  on  this  side  too,  and  he  will  go  with  me 
through  Jordan.  The  Lord's  blessed  will  be  done. 
That  blessed  heaven !  Rest — love  to  all  that  are 
absent.  I  recommend  Christ  to  them.  I  have  no  other 
recommendation  but  Jesus.  He  has  supported  me  all 
along  for  several  weeks,  and  now  see  !  his  grace  is 
sufficient  for  me.  '  One  there  is  above  all  others,' — 
Sing  it — O,  sing  it,  or  sing,  '  When  I  can  read  my  title 
clear.'"  One  verse  was  sung.  He  became  very  calm, 
and  at  the  close  he  said,  "Thank  the  Lord  for  all  his 
goodness  to  me."  Here  he  sank  into  a  slumber.  At 
different  times,  during  the  night,  he  said,  "  O  for  grace 
to  be  patient."  When  told  that  he  was  patient — "Yes," 
said  he,  "but  I  would  be  patient  as  a  lamb."  At 
another  time,  he  said,  "  Precious  Saviour,  be  with  me 
even  to  the  end.     Won't  it  be  sweet  to  fall  right  into 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  59 

the  arms  of  Jesus  1"  To  another,  he  said,  "Let 
patience  have  her  perfect  work.  Through  much  tribu- 
lation! — Through  much  tribulation!"  Rousing  up,  he 
said,  "  I  know  not  what  you  are  about,  but  all  I  care 
thinking  about  is  my  precious  Saviour  : — dear  Blessed 
One  !"  At  eight  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  14th, 
he  said,  "'Come  my  soul,  thy  suit  prepare.'  Goon." 
The  hymn  book  was  brought,  and  being  asked  if  we 
should  sing  or  read,  he  said,  read.  The  first  verse  was 
read: 

"  Come  my  soul  thy  suit  prepare, 
Jesus  loves  to  answer  prayer ; 
He  himself  has  bid  thee  pray, 
Rise  and  ask  without  delay." 

When  finished,  he  said,  "  O  yes,  I  ask  for  patience  and 
help  to  the  end.  Go  on."  At  the  end  of  the  second 
verse,  which  reads  thus  : 

"  With  my  burden,  I  begin, 
Lord !  remove  this  load  of  sin ! 
Let  thy  blood  for  sinners  spilt. 
Set  my  conscience  free  from  guilt." 

He  said,  "  Yes — yes — the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanses 
from  all  sin."     At  the  end  of  the  third  verse, 

"  Lord !  I  come  to  thee  for  rest : 
Take  possession  of  my  breast, 
Here  thy  sovereign  right  maintain, 
And  without  a  rival  reign." 

He  said,  "Yes,  Lord,  begin  thy  reign  whenever  thou 


60  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

choosest,  and  continue  it  for  ever."  At  the  close  of  the 
fourth  verse, 

"  Show  me  what  I  have  to  do, 
Every  hour  my  strength  renew, 
Let  me  Uve  a  hfe  of  faith, 
Let  me  die  thy  people's  death." 

He  added,  "Lord,  thou  seest  what  poor  creatures  we  all 
are.  Bless  us  all  and  strengthen  us.  Dear  Saviour, 
thou  givest  me  some  suffering,  but  nothing  compared  to 
what  many  saints  and  thyself  suffered."  About  five 
o'clock,  on  Monday,  he  asked  to  be  raised  up,  and  said, 
''Death — death,  now,  come  Lord  Jesus — dear  Saviour." 
In  a  few  minutes,  his  spirit  was  gone.  It  is  confidently 
believed  that  "  he  fell  right  into  the  arms  of  Jesus,"  in 
whom  he  sleeps  until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection. 
He  lacked  twenty-nine  days  of  being  thirty-nine  years 
old.     His  remains  are  interred  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 

The  following  sketch  of  his  character  was  drawn  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Musgrave,  who  knew  him  Avell,  and  who,  at 
the  request  of  the  officers  of  the  First  Church  in  Balti- 
more, preached  the  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  their 
bereavement : 

"The  talents  and  acquirements  of  Dr.  Nevins 
were  superior.  His  understanding  was  remarkably 
acute  ;  his  imagination  highly  inventive  ;  his  judg- 
ment proverbially  solid.  His  reading  was  chiefly 
theological  and  practical ;  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the 
multiplicity  of  pastoral  and  other  public  duties.     Yet, 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.   D.  61 

occasionally  he   has  been   known  to   pursue   scientific 
and  literary  subjects  with  evident  satisfaction. 

"  Our  dear  brother  was  pre-eminently  distinguished 
for  SINCERE  PIETY.  No  man  could  hear  him  preach  or 
pray,  without  being-  struck  with  his  sincere  and  earnest 
devotion.  There  was  that  in  his  public  performances, 
which  made  an  immediate  impression  that  he  felt  him- 
self what  he  uttered,  and  that  he  did  most  truly  and 
earnestly  desire  the  salvation  of  his  hearers.  It  was 
the  common  remark  of  strangers,  after  hearing  him  for 
the  first  time,  'That  is  a  sincere, — good  man.'  In 
private,  I  can  bear  witness  to  the  habitual  seriousness 
and  spirituality  of  his  mind.  Often  while  with  him, 
has  he  expressed  the  anxiety  of  his  soul  concerning  the 
religious  state  of  his  people,  and  inquired  with  earnest- 
ness, 'What  can  be  done  to  incite  them  to  duty?' 
Frequently  also,  would  he  unite  with  his  ministerial 
brethren  in  social  prayer  ;  and  on  such  occasions,  he 
manifested  a  spirit  deeply  imbued  with  the  unction  of 
the  Holy  One.  In  his  yet  more  private  and  confiden- 
tial intercourse,  it  was  evident  that,  through  manifold 
temptations  and  fiery  trials,  he  was  deeply  experienced 
in  divine  things,  and  was  rapidly  preparing  to  leave 
this  world  and  enter  upon  his  eternal  reward. 

"  Ovir  brother  was  also  distinguished  for  practical 
WISDOM.  He  was  slow  to  commit  himself  on  any 
subject  or  in  any  cause  ;  and  would  never  act  until  he 
had  made  the  most  diligent  and  ample  inquiry.  The 
measures  he  employed  were  cautious,  imexceptionable, 
and  admirably  adapted  to  secure  his  object.  He  was, 
therefore,  a  safe  guide  to  others  ;  and  avoided  bimsclf 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

many  difficulties  and  indiscretions,  which  perplex  and 
straiten  the  sanguine  and  visionary.  During  his  pro- 
tracted labors  among  this  people,  such  was  the  wisdom 
and  prudence  of  his  course,  that  he  never  excited 
any  serious  opposition  to  his  measures,  nor  is  known  to 
have  made  a  personal  enemy.  In  truth,  such  was 
his  reputation  for  prudence  abroad,  that  in  times  of 
extreme  suspicion  and  party  strife,  he  always  retained 
the  confidence  of  his  ministerial  brethren,  though  he 
refused  to  take  an  active  part  in  their  ecclesiastical 
war. 

"  Another  trait  in  his  character,  closely  allied  to  the 
former,  was  his  amiability.  His  was  truly  an  afiec- 
tionate  and  peaceful  spirit.  Cherishing  himself  towards 
others  a  liberal  and  kind  disposition,  he  could  not 
endure  the  strife  of  public  parties,  or  the  bitterness 
of  more  private  and  personal  disputes.  I  have  known 
him  frequently  to  be  wounded,  but  never  to  be  angry 
but  once ;  and  then  the  provocation  was  outrageous  ! 
Such  was  the  tenderness  of  his  feelings,  that  on  a 
certain  occasion,  when  an  intimate  friend  complained 
of  his  neglect,  he  threw  his  arms  around  his  neck  and 
wept  upon  his  bosom !  During  his  illness,  he  more 
than  once  observed,  '  There  are  some  men  who  will 
contend ; — I  cannot  contend  ; — and  the  Lord  is  taking 
me  from  the  evil  to  come.'  To  one  of  his  brethren,  he 
said,  'For  the  sake  of  the  cause, — for  Jesus's  sake, 
bear  and  forbear.  I  know  it  will  be  difficult ;  but 
suflFer  all  things  for  Christ's  sake.'  He  was  answered, 
that  it  should  be  done,  as  far  as   conscience  would 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  .  63 

allow.  He  replied,  with  emphasis,  'You  will  never 
regret  it.' 

"Another  distinguished  trait  in  his  character  was 
HUMILITY.  In  all  his  public  performances  he  was 
entirely  destitute  of  every  thing  like  vanity  or  self-com- 
placency ;  and  in  his  private  conduct,  he  was  remarka- 
bly unassuming  and  retiring.  He  never  sought  praise, 
and  '  bore  his  honors  meekly.'  He  rarely  spoke  of  his 
public  efforts,  and  appeared  to  underrate  them.  But 
what  was  yet  more  rare,  he  envied  not  the  fame  and 
usefulness  of  others,  but  seemed  rather  to  be  pleased 
with  their  advancement  and  success.  So  modest  was 
he  and  diffident  of  his  powers,  that  his  friends  have 
sometimes  felt  it  a  duty  to  urge  him  to  efforts  to 
which  he  had  been  invited  from  abroad,  and  to  which 
he  judged  himself  inadequate.  After  he  had  com- 
menced the  publication  of  his  Essays,  he  was  unaffect- 
edly surprised  at  the  attention  which  they  immediately 
excited.  In  truth.  Dr.  Nevins  was  among  the  most 
unambitious  and  humble  of  tnen  ;  and  when  his  talents 
and  opportunities  are  contemplated,  his  modesty  and 
humility  appear  pre-eminently  conspicuous  and  ex- 
emplary. 

"Diligence  and  punctuality  were  also  character- 
istic of  our  departed  friend.  He  composed  during  his 
ministry,  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  sermons, 
and  many  tracts  and  essays ;  and  sustained,  besides,  an 
extensive  correspondence.  In  addition  to  these,  his 
pastoral  and  other  public  labors  were  imusually  abun- 
dant. Yet  no  duty  was  neglected,  or  tardily  and 
imperfectly  discharged.      When  he   promised,  he  was 


64  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

sure  to  perform ;  and  his  appointments,  as  to  time,  were 
met  with  scrupulous  punctuality.  In  these  respects, 
he  was  an  invaluable  member  of  our  Ecclesiastical 
Courts,  and  of  the  Boards  of  management  of  our 
Benevolent  Associations. 

"As  A  PREACHER,  Dr.  Nevius  was  sound,  clear, 
practical,  and  eloquent.  During  the  former  part  of  his 
ministry,  his  sermons  were  of  an  imaginative  and 
rhetorical  order  ;  containing  some  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful and  fascinating  illustrations  and  exhibitions  of 
divine  truth.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life, 
however,  his  discourses  were  more  solid  and  practical : 
and  multitudes  will  have  cause  to  bless  God  for  ever, 
that  they  were  so.  His  style  was  simple,  pure  and 
cogent.  The  power  of  condensation  he  possessed  in  an 
eminent  degree ;  frequently  expressing  in  a  single 
sentence,  what  others  would  spread  over  pages.  His 
manner  was  earnest,  affectionate,  solemn,  and  impres- 
sive; and  when  excited,  he  was  often  truly  eloquent. 
Who  among  you  have  not  been  thrilled  by  some 
pungent  interrogation  1 — or  melted  to  tears  by  his 
tender  and  earnest  appeals  1 

"As  A  PASTOR,  he  was  devoted,  prudent,  affection- 
ate, and  successful.  No  man  ever  labored  more  inde- 
fatigably  than  he,  to  promote  the  spiritual  improvement 
of  his  people.  In  the  pulpit,  and  from  house  to  house  ; 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  he  was  constantly  and 
laboriously  employed  in  doing  good.  He  wisely  re- 
stricted his  personal  ministry  chief  y  to  his  own  flock  ; 
and  perhaps  there  never  was  a  people  who  enjoyed  the 
labors  of  their  pastor  more  constantly  than  his.      He 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  65 

would  sometimes  playfully  remark,  '  There  is  no  profit 
in  robbing  Peter  to  pay  Paul ; — in  neglecting  one's  own 
family  to  look  after  strangers  ;'  and  in  this,  he  was 
undoubtedly  judicious.  The  progress  of  this  congrega- 
tion in  practical  and  spiritual  religion,  and  the  large 
accessions  made  to  the  number  of  communicants, 
furnish  the  most  abundant  and  gratifying  evidence  that 
his  labors  were  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord,  It  is  also 
interesting  to  state,  that  five  or  six  individuals  are 
either  in  the  ministry  or  preparing  for  it,  who  ascribe 
their  conversion,  under  God,  to  his  labors.  But  while 
he  must  have  rejoiced  over  every  convert  made  through 
his  instrumentality,  how  inexpressibly  thankful  and 
happy  must  he  have  been,  when  made  instrumental  in 
the  conversion  of  his  beloved  and  venerable  father  !  In 
his  pastoral  visits,  our  brother  was  specially  attentive 
to  the  poor  and  the  afflicted,  and  always  ready  to 
relieve  their  temporal  necessities,  as  far  as  was  within 
his  power,  and  to  impart  to  them  the  richer  consolations 
of  the  gospel.  Towards  the  sick,  he  exhibited  the 
greatest  fidelity  and  sympathy  ; .  endeavoring  to  con- 
vince the  skeptical ;  to  alarm  the  careless  ;  to  comfort 
and  animate  the  desponding  ;  to  prepare  all  to  die  in 
peace  and  in  hope  of  eternal  life. 

"  As  A  WRITER,  Dr.  Nevins  was  superior  ;  and  it  is 
to  be  regretted  that  his  modesty  and  pastoral  duties 
would  not  allow  him  to  publish  more  than  he  did 
during  his  life.  Some  of  the  premium  Tracts  which 
he  prepared,  are  exceedingly  valuable,  and  have 
already  obtained  a  wide  and  useful  circulation.      The 

Practical   Essays,   which    appeared   originally    in    the 

6* 


66  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

New-York  Observer,  over  the  finals,  m.  s.,  are  almost 
unrivalled,  and  have  elicited  vmiversal  admiration. 
The  essays  on  the  subject  of  Romanism,  are  likewise 
excellent,  and  have  exerted  a  powerful  and  salutary- 
influence.  It  may  not  be  known  to  all,  that  these 
essays  were  composed  during  his  ill  health ;  and 
because,  as  he  said,  '  I  wish  to  divert  my  mind  from 
my  afflictions,  and  I  trust  also  to  be  useful  in  this  way, 
while  I  am  unable  to  preach.' 

"As  A  PUBLIC  MAN,  in  all  his  relations  to  the 
Judicatories  of  the  Church,  and  to  the  various  Be- 
nevolent Associations  of  the  age,  Dr.  Nevins  was 
invaluable.  It  is  true,  he  never  was  an  active  party 
leader  in  our  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  but  he  exerted, 
nevertheless,  a  most  happy  and  useful  influence. 
Sound  in  doctrine  and  in.  practice,  he  had  no  sympathy 
with  the  idle  speculations  and  innovations  of  the  age. 
While  on  the  other  hand,  he  was  equally  opposed 
to  the  ultra  measures  and  vindictive  spirit  of  some, 
professedly  contending  for  the  truth.  He  preached  the 
truth  himself;  sustained  by  his  influence  the  orthodox 
institutions  of  the  Church ;  and  always  avowed  his 
willingness,  in  a  constitutional  manner  and  in  a 
Christian  temper,  to  administer  discipline  when  it  was 
shown  to  be  necessary.  But  he  would  not  consent  to 
make  a  man  an  offender  for  a  word  ;  nor  employ  illegal 
or  ultra  measures  for  the  correction  of  acknowledged 
evils ;  much  less  would  he  pursue  any  one  with 
personal  and  vulgar  abuse.  He  was,  in  truth,  particu- 
larly averse  to  the  spirit  of  contention,  and  never,  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  life,  engaged  in  controversy.      His 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  67 

Essays  on  Romanism  are  not,  in  my  judgment,  an 
exception  to  this  remark.  It  is  true,  he  did  expose  many 
of  the  dogmas  and  superstitions  of  that  sect,  but  he  did 
not  do  it  in  a  controversial  form  or  with  a  disputatious 
spirit.  I  must  not  here  be  understood,  as  reflecting 
upon  those  who  feel  it  to  be  their  duty  to  enter  into 
controversy ;  it  is  often  unavoidable  ;  and  when  con- 
ducted in  a  prudent  manner  and  with  a  Christian 
spirit,  it  may  be  highly  useful.  But  our  brother  did 
not  regard  himself  as  called  to  labor  in  this  depart- 
ment ;  and  from  his  decided  aversion  to  it,  avoided  it 
even  when  publicly  assailed. 

"  In  his  relations  to  the  various  Benevolent  Associa- 
tions of  the  age,  he  was,  as  we  have  said,  invaluable. 
He  did  not  attract,  by  public  declamation  and  parade, 
so  much  attention  as  some  others,  but  he  acted,  instead 
of  talking;  and  by  his  private  influence  and  personal 
exertions  contributed  largely  to  their  support  and 
usefulness.  He  was  prompt  and  faithful  in  discharging 
his  share  of  their  management ;  and  by  his  judicious 
counsel,  and  humble  prayerful  spirit,  he  greatly  as- 
sisted in  their  direction.  He  was  ever  interested  in 
their  advancement.  He  was  particularly  interested  in 
sending  the  gospel  to  the  heathen  ;  and  among  the 
last  acts  of  his  life,  was  a  liberal  donation  to  the 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, of  which  he  was  a  corporate  member.  The  deep 
interest  which  he  felt  in  the  Monthly  Concert  of  Prayer 
for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  is  known  to  you  all ; 
and  we  pray  God,  that  the  recollection  of  it  may  long 
continue  to  produce  its  appropriate  fruits. 


68  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

"  In  his  domestic  and  social  relations,  he  was 
affectionate  and  constant.  I  will  only  say,  that  as  a 
Husband  and  Father,  he  was  all  that  would  be  expected 
from  one  so  judicious,  humble,  and  affectionate.  He 
was  slow  and  cautious  in  forming-  relations  of  friend- 
ship, but  when  once  formed,  they  were  cherished  with 
constancy.  No  friend  was  ever  more  sincere  and 
faithful.  He  made  but  few  professions,  and  never 
indulged  in  heartless  flatteries  and  promises  ;  but  he 
did  more  than  he  promised,  and  proved  the  sincerity  of 
his  friendship,  not  by  words,  but  by  disinterested  and 
generous  acts.  He  was  not  so  fascinating-  to  strangers, 
as  some  others  ;  but,  what  was  better,  he  improved  upon 
acquaintance ;  and  those  who  knew  him  longest  and 
most  intimately,  prized  his  friendship  the  most  highly. 

"  That  he  had  his  imperfections  will  be  readily 
admitted ;  for  he  was  a  man  of  like  passions  and 
temptations  with  ourselves.  But  it  may  be  said  justly, 
that  '  they  were  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word 
imperfections,  since  they  grew  out  of  his  natural  temper- 
ament, and  were  not  to  be  imputed  to  an  obliquity  of 
will  or  to  a  deficiency  in  the  strength  of  his  moral 
principle.' " 

Dr.  Nevins'  death  was  sincerely  lamented  by  many 
out  of  the  Church  in  which  his  immediate  connexions 
la)^  The  Rev.  John  Johns,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  one  of  the 
Episcopal  churches  in  Baltimore,  on  the  fiist  sabbath 
of  the  year  succeeding  Dr.  Nevins'  death,  in  preaching 
to  his  people  a  discourse  founded  upon  Job  xiv,  14, 
"  All  the  days  of  my  appointed  time  will  I  wait  till  my 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  69 

change  come,"  expressed  himself  in  a  manner  honor- 
able both  to  the  preacher  and  the  deceased.  By  the 
kindness  of  Dr.  Johns,  so  much  of  what  he  said  as  was 
then  written  is  here  inserted  : 

"Whilst  preaching-  to  you,  my  brethren,  on  this 
solemn  subject,  I  desire  to  remember  that  during  the 
past  year  God  has  preached  pointedly  and  powerfully 
to  his  ministering  servants  in  this  city.  I  mean  by  the 
mysterious  and  afflictive  providence  by  which  he  has 
removed  one  of  our  number  from  the  scene  of  his 
earthly  labors. 

"  If  the  devoted  affection  of  his  own  people — the 
sincere  regard  of  the  Christian  community — peculiar 
preparation  for  his  work,  and  the  promise  of  extending 
and  extraordinary  usefulness,  could  have  detained  him 
here,  others  might  have  been  taken,  but  he,  I  am  per- 
suaded, would  have  been  left.  Few,  very  few,  were  so 
tenderly  beloved  ;  so  generally  respected ;  so  admirably 
fitted  for  service,  and  so  steadily  abundant  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord.  To  speak  of  him  in  terms  similar  to  those 
which  a  prophet  used,  would  be  no  unmerited  commen- 
dation, '  The  law  of  the  Lord  was  in  his  mouth  ;  in  his 
lips  was  no  guile  ;  he  walked  with  God  in  equity  and 
truth,  and  turned  many  from  iniquity.'  But  all  this 
furnished  no  security  against  affliction,  as  the  mournful 
history  of  his  own  interesting  family  most  touchingly 
teaches  us.  Nor  does  it  form  a  shield  against  the  shaft 
of  death,  as  we  learn  in  his  own  lamented  case  : — 
*  The  days  of  his  appointed  time  have  been  numbered — 
his  change  has  come.' 


70  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

*'  Shall  I  sorrow  over  his  removal  1  He  was  my  early 
Christian  friend,  with  whom  I  have  studied  and  prayed 
and  taken  sweet  counsel,  at  the  very  period  of  life  so 
favorable  for  cementing  hearts  in  genuine  friendship. 
Since  that  period,  for  several  years,  our  personal  inter- 
course was  much  interrupted.  We  labored  in  different 
departments  of  the  Christian  enclosure,  and  were  called 
by  different  names.  But  there  was  no  abatement  of 
early  kindness — no  loss  of  former  confidence. 

"  On  my  settlement  in  this  city,  as  your  pastor,  I 
found  him  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  ministering  to 
the  large  and  respectable  congregation,  now  mourning 
their  recent  bereavement.  I  numbered  it  among  my 
privileges,  that  I  was  permitted  to  renew  our  former 
intercourse — to  become  his  neighbor.  And  I  here  bear 
testimony,  that  he  proved  my  more  than  neighbor — my 
generous,  fond,  affectionate  brother. 

"  For  the  removal  of  such  a  friend,  I  well  might 
grieve.  But  when  I  consider  his  change,  I  dare  sorrow 
no  longer.  What  a  change,  my  brethren  !  Who  but 
must  covet  it?  He  has  passed  from  the  field  of  his 
arduous  labors  to  the  place  of  perpetual  repose.  From 
the  habitation,  every  room  and  every  article  of  which, 
painfully  reminded  him  of  his  own  sore  bereavements, 
to  join  those  loved  ones  in  his  Father's  mansions. 
From  the  midst  of  the  various  trials,  inseparable  from  a 
faithful  ministry,  to  the  rich  reward  which  forms  its 
infallible  recompense.  From  the  conflicts  of  grace,  to 
the  triumphs  of  glory  !  Yes,  my  friend  and  brother 
has  fought  the  good  fight  and  finished  his  course  with 
joy.     He  has  laid  aside  his  helmet  for  a  crown   of 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,  D.  D.  71 

righteousness,  and  received  for  the  sword  of  faith, 
which  he  wielded  so  skilfully,  the  palm  of  victory. 
Heaven  grant,  that  whilst  his  death  warns  us  of  the 
necessity  of  being  always  ready  for  our  own  change, 
his  beautiful  example  may  animate  us  to  increased  zeal 
and  devotion  in  the  great  and  good  cause  which  has  in 
his  removal  lost  so  able  a  minister." 

The  following  remarks  on  Dr.  Nevins'  character,  are 
from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Samuel  Miller,  D.  D.,  Professor 
of  Ecclesiastical  History  and  Church  Government,  in 
the  Theological  Seminary  at  Princeton.  They  are,  by 
permission,  published  : 

"You  request  me  to  give  you  my  impressions  respect- 
ing our  beloved  and  lamented  friend,  the  late  Dr. 
Nevins,  of  Baltimore,  as  a  Student,  as  a  Preacher,  as  a 
Gentleman,  and  as  a  Christian.  It  is  with  mournful 
pleasure  that  I  comply  with  your  request ;  for  I  have 
seldom  cherished  toward  any  man  a  warmer  or  more 
heartfelt  affection  ;  and  I  know  not  that  I  was  ever  a 
more  sincere  mourner  on  the  decease  of  any  friend  out 
of  my  own  family,  than  on  his. 

"  My  acquaintance  with  William  Nevins,  as  a 
Student,  commenced  in  November,  1816,  when  he 
entered  our  seminary,  with  testimonials  of  having 
graduated  in  Yale  College,  and  of  being,  if  I  mistake 
not,  a  member  of  the  Church  in  that  institution.  His 
appearance  was  rather  more  than  usually  juvenile,  but 
polished,  pleasant,  and  attractive  ;  and  throughout  his 
whole  course,  he  was  one  of  the  most  amiable,  respect- 


72  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

ful,  and  orderly  students  in  the  whole  house.  It  was 
understood,  that  during  the  early  part  of  his  connexion 
with  the  college,  he  was  entirely  careless  about  divine 
things,  and  even  somewhat  disposed  to  be  dissipated, 
but  that  in  a  revival  of  religion,  of  considerable  extent 
and  power  in  the  college,  he  became  decidedly  pious. 
In  adverting  to  the  circumstances  attending  this  inter- 
esting event,  which  he  sometimes  did  to  his  intimate 
friends,  he  spoke  of  the  conversation  and  preaching  of 
the  Rev.  Asa  Thurston,  now  one  of  the  respected  and 
beloved  missionaries  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  as 
having  been  particularly  blessed  to  his  benefit.  His 
application  to  study,  while  with  lis,  was  exemplary.  It 
was  not,  indeed,  of  that  peculiar  and  indefatigable 
character,  which  was  manifested  by  some  of  his  com- 
panions in  study.  Yet  it  may  be  said  with  truth,  that 
he  was  a  diligent  student,  and  that  he  always  appeared 
well  at  examinations. 

"  To  those  who  saw  our  young  friend  while  he  was 
in  the  seminary  only  occasionally,  and  in  company,  his 
seriousness  did  not  appear  to  be  very  marked  or  deep. 
He  exhibited  at  that  time,  perhaps  more  than  in  after 
life,  great  alternations  of  feeling.  He  was  often  most 
distressingly  dyspeptic,  and  frequently  manifested  all 
that  depression  of  spirits,  which  those  who  have  had 
experience  of  that  malady,  in  its  more  severe  forms, 
know  well  how  to  appreciate  At  other  times,  liis 
spirits  might  be  said  to  be  exuberant ;  and,  as  it  was 
much  more  frequently  in  the  latter,  than  in  the  former 
state  of  mind,  that  he  appeared  in  company,  he  was 
considered  by  most  of  those  who  knew  him,  to  be  rather 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  73 

remarkable  for  cheerfulness  and  vivacity.  Those  who 
knew  him  most  intimately,  however,  knew  that  in 
retirement,  he  manifested  habits  which  satisfied  them 
that  he  was  not  only  unfeignedly  pious,  but  that  his 
piety  was  considerably  above  the  ordinary  standard. 

"  While  Mr.  Nevins  was  a  member  of  the  seminary, 
he  was  particularly  distinguished  for  the  taste  and 
elegance  of  his  compositions.  They  were  highly 
rhetorical,  imaginative,  and  ornate.  He  wrote  poetry 
as  well  as  prose,  with  very  honorable  success.  When 
he  pronounced  any  of  his  exercises  in  public,  as  our 
rules  require,  he  always  appeared  well,  and  sometimes 
remarkably  so.  Several  of  these  public  exercises  at  the 
time,  made  a  strong  impression,  and  are  still  remem- 
bered with  interest  by  some,  at  least,  of  those  who 
heard  them. 

"  Our  lamented  friend,  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak, 
manifested  nothing  of  that  spirit  of  laziness,  vanity,  or 
presumption,  which  has  prompted  hundreds  of  our 
pupils  to  withdraw  prematurely  from  the  studies  of  the 
seminary,  and  engage  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
before  they  were  half  prepared  for  its  arduous  and 
responsible  labors.  He  felt  the  need  and  importance 
of  mature  study ;  and  went  through  the  complete 
course  prescribed  in  the  institution,  and  received  its 
accustomed  testimonial  to  that  amount,  toward  the 
close  of  September,  1819.  And,  as  the  labors  of  the 
former  class  of  students,  have  seldom  failed  to  manifest, 
in  a  very  striking  and  humiliating  manner,  their  lack 
of  the  requisite  furniture,  so  the  subsequent  labors  of 
our  beloved  friend,  showed  that  he  had  laid  a  solid 


74  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

foundation  of  theological  and  ecclesiastical,  as  well  as 
of  literary  acquirement. 

"  As  a  Preacher,  Dr.  Nevins  greatly  excelled.  When 
he  first  commenced  his  labors  as  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  he  carried  with  him  into  the  pulpit  that  love  of 
rhetorical  ornament,  and  that  reign  of  imagination, 
which  had  distinguished  his  compositions  in  the  sem- 
inary. And  even  for  a  short  time  after  he  became 
settled  as  a  pastor,  his  sermons  partook  more  of  this 
character,  than  his  more  mature  judgment  and  practice 
sanctioned.  But  even  then,  his  pious  ardor,  his  sound- 
ness in  the  faith,  and  his  decidedly  evangelical  views, 
and  strain  of  preaching,  evinced  that  he  was  really  a 
devoted  and  faithful  servant. 

"  When  he  had  been  four  or  five  years  in  the  min- 
istry, it  pleased  God  to  bless  his  labors  in  a  remarkable 
manner.  His  church  experienced,  what,  I  believe  it 
had  never  before  known,  a  precious  revival  of  religion, 
in  which  a  large  addition  was  made  to  the  members  of 
his  church,  and  a  change  decisively  for  the  better  in 
the  whole  aspect  of  his  congregation.  He  himself 
received  a  new  unction.  His  preaching  became  more 
solemn,  direct,  pointed,  and  richly  evangelical — more 
adapted  at  once  to  awaken  the  careless,  and  to  edify 
the  pious. 

"  During  the  last  seven  or  eight  years  of  his  life,  I 
considered  Dr.  Nevins  as  among  the  very  best  preachers 
in  the  United  States.  His  sermons  were  suflSciently 
ornate  and  elegant  to  satisfy  the  most  delicate  taste ; 
simple,  perspicuous,  and  plain,  without  being  common 
place ;  rich  in  sentiment  and  doctrine,  and  delivered 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  75 

with  an  animation,  a  force,  and  a  striking  earnestness, 
adapted  to  recommend  them  to  every  class  of  hearers. 
You  are,  no  doubt,  aware  that  he  was  a  memoriter 
preacher  ;  and  on  the  whole,  the  most  natural  and 
impressive  memoriter  preacher  I  ever  heard.  He 
seemed  to  commit  to  memory  with  great  ease,  and  to 
call  forth  and  deliver  what  he  had  deposited  in  his 
memory,  without  the  least  hesitation  or  embarrassment. 
Most  of  the  memoriter  preachers  that  I  have  heard, 
had  a  formal  reciting  manner.  In  him  scarcely  any 
thing  of  this  kind  appeared.  His  intonations  and  his 
whole  manner  were  entirely  natural.  He  might  easily 
have  been  mistaken  for  an  extemporaneous  speaker, 
had  not  the  richness,  the  connexion,  and  the  mature 
judgment  and  taste  which  his  discourses  seldom  failed 
to  display,  evinced  careful  preparation. 

"As  a  Gentleman,  Dr.  Nevins  was  highly  exemplary. 
He  had,  indeed,  nothing  of  the  splendor,  or  courtly 
formality  of  fashionable  manners.  His  deportment  in 
company,  though  polished  and  respectful,  was  as 
simple,  easy,  unaffected,  and  unassuming  as  possible. 
He  had  about  him  as  much  of  what  the  French  call 
naivete,  as  I  almost  ever  saw  in  a  man  so  serious  and 
dignified  as  he  habitually  was.  He  had,  indeed,  in  his 
common  manners,  the  simplicity  of  a  child,  which 
exerted  a  very  winning  influence  among  his  associates. 
One  of  the  most  decisive  tests  of  the  character  of  a 
Christian  gentleman,  is  a  capacity  to  appear  well  and 
respectably  in  any  company,  from  the  highest  to  the 
lowest.  When  brought  to  this  test,  no  one  who  knew 
our  lamented  friend,  would  consider  him  as  likely  to 


76  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

be  found  wanting.  His  knowledge  of  the  world,  his 
gentleness,  his  respectfulness,  and  his  benevolence, 
were  a  passport  in  all  society. 

"  In  contemplating  the  character  of  Dr.  Nevins  as  a 
Christian,  you  will  readily  perceive,  from  what  I  have 
before  stated,  that  I  regard  him  as  having  occupied  a 
high  place.  His  growth  in  grace,  after  he  left  us,  and 
after  he  was  clothed  with  the  ministerial  office,  was  not 
only  distinctly  perceptible,  but  very  striking.  The 
circumstances  of  my  being  called  upon,  at  his  request, 
to  preach  the  usual  sermon  at  his  ordination,  led  to  an 
intercourse  somewhat  special  between  him  and  myself. 
I  was  repeatedly  with  him  in  Baltimore;  and  he  gen- 
erally made  my  house  his  home,  during  his  frequent 
visits  to  Princeton,  so  that  I  had  no  small  opportunity 
of  observing  his  spirit  and  conversation  ;  and  I  can 
truly  say,  that  every  successive  time  I  saw  him,  or 
heard  him  preach,  he  appeared  to  me  to  have  made 
sensible  progress  in  wisdom,  zeal,  fidelity,  and  devoted- 
ness.  His  conversation,  his  prayers,  his  plans,  and  his 
most  unguarded  sallies  of  thought  or  feeling,  were 
those  of  a  man  who  made  the  advancement  of  the 
Redeemer's  kingdom  the  great  object  of  his  pursuit, 

"  The  closing  scene  of  his  life,  as  I  learned  from  those 
who  were  with  him, — for  it  was  in  my  power  to  see 
him  but  once  during  his  last  illness,  and  that  for  a  few 
moments  only, — was  in  harmony  with  all  his  preceding 
evidences  of  piety,  or  rather  bore  a  testimony  in  favor 
of  his  piety,  more  bright  and  animating  than  ever.  On 
this,  however,  I  will  not  enlarge,  as  you  were  with  him 
during  a  number  of  his  last  days,  and  had  every  oppor- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  77 

tunity  of  witnessing  the  patience,  the  concern  for  the 
kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  joyful  hope,  wliich  so  emi- 
nently marlced  his  gradual  descent  to  the  tomb,  and 
which  seemed  to  grow  brighter  and  brighter,  until  he 
reached,  as  I  have  no  doubt,  unclouded  day. 

"  In  him,  1  have  lost  a  dear  friend,  and  the  Church 
an  eminently  devoted  and  useful  minister  of  the  gospel. 
But  it  is  all  right.  <  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemed 
good  in  thy  sight.  The  Lord  reigneth;  let  the  earth 
rejoice.  Clouds  and  darkness  are  around  about  him;  but 
righteousness  and  judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne.^ 

"  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  with  much  regard,  your  friend 
and  brother,  in  those  bonds  which  can  never  be  broken. 

"SAMUEL  MILLER. 

"  Princeton,  January  29,  1836." 

Dr.  Nevins  was  a  very  valuable  writer,  especially  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life.  Two  volumes  of  his  writings, 
one  on  Practical  Subjects  in  Divinity,  the  other  on 
Popery,  have  recently  issued  from  tlie  press  of  the 
American  Tract  Society,  as  standard  publications.  He 
also  wrote  six  tracts  ;  three  of  which  were  premium 
tracts.  Five  of  them  have  been  published  by  the 
American  Tract  Society.  They  are  entitled,  *'  The 
Great  Alternative."  "What  have  I  donel"  "What 
must  I  do  1"  "  I  will  give  liberally  ;"  and  "  Don't 
break  the  Sabbath."  The  other  is,  "On  the  subject 
of  supplying  the  accessible  population  of  the  whole 
world  with  the  Word  of  God,  within  a  definite  period." 
This  last  tract  is  one  of  unusual  power.  It  will  be 
found  among  the  following  papers.    Some  of  the  others, 


78  BIOGRAPHICAL    NOTICE    OF 

are  of  uncommon  excellence.  Those  already  published 
have  been  blessed,  and  since  his  death,  seem  to  be 
more  so  than  ever.  Dr.  Nevins  never  published  but  two 
sermons.  These  appeared  in  the  J^ational  Preacher,  and 
are  excellent.  In  regard  to  authorship,  Dr.  Nevins 
wrote  as  follows  : 

"  Baltimore,  December  9,  1834. 
"  I  find  that  the  habit  I  have  got  into  of  writing  for 
the  press,  has  made  my  hours  pass  much  more  agreea- 
bly than  otherwise  they  would.  I  have  written  a  great 
deal  since  my  affliction.  I  have  articles  on  hand  for 
the  Observer  for  several  weeks ;  last  week  I  wrote 
a  tract;  and,  I  have  several  other  things  in  prepara- 
tion. I  have  had  many  prayers  answered.  For  several 
years,  I  almost  daily  prayed  that  I  might  be  permit- 
ted to  produce  one  useful  tract, — never  thinking  to 
go  beyond  that,  and  hardly  expecting  to  accomplish 
that  much.  My  ambition  for  authorship  never  extend- 
ed further.  But  God  has  already  enabled  me  to  do 
much  more." 

Often  does  he,  in  his  discourses  and  correspondence, 
hold  language  expressive  of  the  great  kindness  of  his 
affectionate  people.  That  kindness  deeply  affected 
him.  In  no  instance  does  he  seem  to  think  more  of 
such  kindness,  than  when  his  mind  might  be  supposed 
to  be  least  turned  to  any  earthly  friends.  In  a  letter 
dated  January  29,  1835,  he  says : 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D,  79 

"  My  congregation  were  never  so  attentive  to  me. 
It  seems  as  if  they  could  not  do  enough  for  me.  But, 
one  is  wanting — the  charm  of  my  house — the  desire  of 
my  eyes — perhaps,  the  idol  of  my  heart.  Death  had 
marked  her  for  his  prize ;  or  rather,  I  hope,  Christ, 
seeing  her  engaged  in  conflict  with  death,  came  in  and 
carried  her  off,  his  trophy." 


SELECT    REMAINS 


WILLIAM     NEVINS,    D.  D. 


SELECT    REMAINS 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.  D 


THEOLOGY. 

Science  of  every  kind  is  imperfect;  and  every  suc- 
ceeding age  adds  something  to  the  accumulation  of 
past  ages.  If  they,  who  give  themselves  to  the  study 
of  nature,  look  downward,  there  is  an  unexplored 
world ;  and  if  they  look  upward,  there  is  a  blazing 
universe,  yet  but  very  partially  investigated,  about 
which,  they  can,  at  least,  conjecture  or  fancy  some- 
thing new.  But  in  morality  and  religion  there  is 
nothing  new.  The  great  subjects  of  human  duty  and 
human  destiny,  both  as  to  matter,  manner,  and  motive, 
have  not,  for  centuries,  received  any  addition  from 
discovery.  What  man  ought  to  do  and  to  be ;  the 
reason  why  he  ought  so  to  do  and  be  ;  the  duty  in  all 
its  fulness ;  the  manner  of  performing  it,  in  all  its 
plainness  :  and  the  motives,  in  all  their  strength  and 
variety,  are  as  old,  to  say  no  more,  as  the  resurrection 
of  Jesus  Christ  from  death. 


84  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

J^ew  discoveries  in  matters  of  revealed  truth,  I  look 
not  for,  and  must  confess,  that  whatever  is  novel,  I 
suspect  of  being  false.  Light,  I  have  no  doubt,  is  still 
to  be  shed  on  certain  obscure  passages  of  Holy  Writ, 
especially  in  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy ;  but  that  the 
science  of  Theology  should  advance,  as  other  sciences 
do,  every  year  almost,  becoming  more  perfect  and 
satisfactory,  seems  to  me  impossible.  The  reason  is 
obvious.  Theological  truth  is  not  come  at  as  other 
truth  is.  It  is  not  the  result  of  any  long  and  laborious 
induction.  It  is  not  built  up  by  any  experiment.  It  is 
a  science  of  pure  revelation ;  and  therefore  must  have 
existed,  in  its  perfection,  from  the  date  of  the  revelation. 
It  cannot  be  affected,  as  other  sciences,  by  the  march 
of  mind,  for  it  is  the  human  mind  that  marches,  not  the 
divine.  Now  theological  truth  is  the  expression  of  this 
mind,  to  which  there  can  be  no  accession  of  new  ideas. 
If,  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  God  had  made  a 
revelation  on  the  subject  of  astronomy,  the  science  of 
astronomy  would  have  been  as  perfect  a  science  then, 
as  it  is  now.  The  astronomer  of  the  first  century, 
would  have  held  in  his  hand  a  complete  and  unerring 
treatise  on  his  favorite  science  ;  and  what  more  could 
the  astronomer  of  the  nineteenth  century  have  ?  And 
why  should  not  the  former  be  as  likely  to  attain  to  the 
true  meaning,  as  the  latter  ]  What  I  have  supposed 
of  the  science  of  astronomy,  is  of  theology,  strictly 
and  literally  true  ;  and  in  this  respect,  it  is  distin- 
guished from  all  other  sciences. 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  85 


RELIGION. 

Religion  is  not  the  growth  of  tears.  Nor  has  it 
aught  to  do  with  that  weanedness  from  the  world, 
which  disappointment  or  bereavement  or  sickness  pro- 
duces. 

It  is  the  grandest  of  all  attainments  to  be  ready  to 
meet  God. 

.  By  habituating  ourselves  to  behold  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  through  a  glass  darkly,  we  are  fitting  to  behold 
him  face  to  face. 

When  thy  heart  is  changed,  thy  nature  regenerated, 
thy  sins  forgiven,  thyself  a  penitent,  thou  hast  but  just 
enlisted  and  put  on  the  armor, — thou  hast  not  engaged 
in  the  first  conflict;  the  perils,  privations,  and  hardships 
of  man,  are  all  before  thee  ;  thou  hast  only  entered  the 
arena,  where  we  wrestle  not  with  flesh  and  blood,  but 
with  principalities,  and  powers,  and  spiritual  wicked- 
nesses in  high  places ;  thou  art  only  starting  in  the 
race ;  thou  hast  only  gotten  within  the  gate ;  the 
narrow  way  is  yet  in  all  its  length  and  ruggedness 
before  thee. 

Is  religion  worthy  of  any  attention  1     Is  there  truth 

and  importance  in  it  1    Settle  this  point.     Can  you  say, 

no  1     If  you  say,  yes,  then  you  must  admit  that  it  is 

worthy  of  all  attention.      If  it  is  any  thing,  it  is  every 

thing.     If  any  thing  is  to  be  gained  by  it,  or  lost  by  it, 

every  thing  is.     If  good  is  to  be  realized  by  it,  it  is  the 

greatest  good ;  if  evil,  the  greatest  evil.     If  it  is  worth 

8 


86  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

seeking  at  all,  it  is  worth  seeking  fimt.  It  claims  iw- 
mediate  and  most  earnest  attention,  or  no  attention.  If 
you  cannot  safely  trifle  with  it,  there  is  nothing  so 
dangerous  to  trifle  with. 

True  religion  can  never  long  exist  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, without  making  itself  visible.  If  it  is  too 
humble  a  principle  to  court  observation,  it  is  yet  too 
active  and  influential  a  principle  to  escape  it.  The 
grace  of  God  produces  a  greater  change  than  can  be 
concealed. 

It  is  a  stupid  thing  to  say  that  one  religion  is  as 
good  as  another  ; — an  impious  thing  for  one  who  re- 
ceives the  Scriptures,  to  contend  that  it  is  no  matter 
what  a  man's  faith  is ; — and  a  false  charity  which 
prompts  a  man  to  believe  more  favorably  concerning 
his  fellow  creatures,  than  the  Bible  authorizes. 

A  man  is  truly  religious,  in  so  far  as  he  is  sincerely 
submissive  to  the  will  of  God,  and  no  further. 

All  who  withhold  of  their  very  superfluities,  are  not 
the  followers  of  him,  who  to  the  entire  impoverishment 
of  himself,  gave  for  the  enriching  of  us. 

No  other  religion  but  an  experienced  religion,  meets 
the  necessities  of  man.  Speculative  religion  is  seeing, 
and  can  no  more  reach  a  sinner's  wants  and  miseries, 
than  seeing  a  medicine  can  expel  disease,  or  seeing  a 
dinner  can  satisfy  hunger.  We  must  taste  as  well  as 
see  that  the  Lord  is  good.  The  rumor  of  peace  relieves 
not  the  troubled.  Give  him  peace  itself.  If  there  is 
reality  in  experimental  religion,  there  is  importance 
in  it. 

I  have  not  much  religion — very  little  indeed ;  I  desire 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  87 

to  have  more.  But  what  I  have,  is  worth  every  thing 
to  me.  There  is  a  glorious  reahty  in  experimental 
religion  ;  and  there  is  nothing  else  worth  any  thing. 


RELIGION    AND    MORALITY. 

There  are  many  things  which  recommend  us  to  one 
another  besides  our  moral  qualities.  But  God  has 
regard  to  these  alone.  His  view  extends  to  the  inmost 
man-^the  heart.  If  that  be  not  right  in  his  sight,  all 
is  wrong.  And  it  cannot  be  right,  except  when  it 
supremely  loves  him  in  obedience  to  his  first  great 
command.  How  the  children  of  a  family  stand  affected 
toward  each  other,  is  a  secondary  concern.  How  they 
stand  affected  towards  the  father  of  all,  is  the  inquiry, 
first  in  order  and  first  in  dignity.  Some  men  despise 
religion.  To  be  consistent,  they  ought  much  more  to 
despise  morality.  If  there  be  any  thing  contemptible 
in  the  concern  and  endeavor  to  understand  and  dis- 
charge the  duties  which  we  owe  to  the  great  and  good 
Being  who  made  us ;  much  more  is  the  care  to  feel 
and  act  right  towards  our  fellow  worms,  contemptible. 
There  is  a  sacredness  in  the  filial  obligation,  which 
does  not  belong  to  the  fraternal.  If  one  cast  off  the  fear 
of  God,  let  him  not  glory  in  his  regard  for  man.  The 
unjust  judge,  in  the  parable,  was  consistent.  He 
neither  feared  God,  nor  regarded  man.      Morality  is 


88  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

every  thing,  if  there  be  no  God.  Religion  would  be 
every  thing,  if  there  were  no  creatures  surrounding  us. 
It  is  passing  strange  that  man  should  select  as  the 
class  of  duties  to  be  disregarded  by  them,  those  which 
have  respect  to  the  Being,  to  whom,  according  to  com- 
mon belief,  and  the  clear  intimations  of  conscience,  they 
have  to  give  account ;  that  they  should  be  so  careless 
to  stand  well  with  Him,  before  whom  they  are  presently 
to  appear  in  solitary  arraignment,  for  rigid  reckoning 
and  final  retribution.  And  I  have  set  it  down  under 
the  head — infatuation — madness  !  They  look  around 
on  men,  with  a  benevolence  of  feeling,  but  when  they 
look  up  to  God,  if  ever  they  do,  how  blank  their  expres- 
sion, how  unmoved  their  hearts ;  and  they  find  relief 
only  in  looking  away.  You  despise  the  substitution  of 
religion  for  morality,  and  so  you  ought ;  but  why  do 
you  not  despise  the  substitution  of  morality  for  religion  1 
A  wrong  state  of  the  heart  towards  other  beings,  is 
inconsistent  with  a  right  state  of  heart  towards  God. 
He,  that  honoreth  not  the  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father. 
If  one  has  not  faith  towards  Christ,  he  has  not  love 
towards  God.  If  a  man  loves  not  his  brother,  whom 
he  hath  seen,  it  is  plain  he  does  not  love  God,  whom  he 
hath  not  seen.  And  if  he  love  not  the  image  of  the 
Father  in  his  own  person,  how  can  he  love  it  when 
found  in  the  person  of  the  Son  1 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    1).   D.  89 


CREEDS. 

Those  who  subscribe  a  "form  of  words,"  not  inspired 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  have  been  accused  of  being-  always 
hampered  in  their  interpretations  of  the  Bible.  They 
are  supposed  to  feel  all  the  while  they  are  studying  the 
Scriptures,  that  there  is  an  authority  in  matters  of  faith 
superior  to  them,  and  that  their  great  care  must  be  not 
to  give  such  an  interpretation  of  them,  as  shall  array 
them  in  opposition  to  this  superior  authority.  But  it  is 
not  so.  We  are  falsely  accused  in  this  matter.  We 
are  as  free  and  unembarrassed  in  our  interpretations  of 
the  Bible,  as  those  who  throw  aside  all  creeds,  under 
the  belief  of  their  utter  inutility.  No  man  can  be  more 
unembarrassed.  We  do  not  take  our  texts  from  any 
confession  of  faith  ;  nor  go  we  for  proof  of  any  proposi- 
tion to  that  earthly  source.  Our  proofs,  equally  with 
our  texts,  are  of  and  from  the  holy  Scriptures.  Nor  is  it 
at  all  our  object,  in  preaching  the  gospel,  to  show  how 
exactly  the  Westminster  Assembly  have  expressed  the 
mind  of  the  Spirit.  How  then  can  our  assent  to  the 
substantial  accuracy  of  a  certain  creed  embarrass  us  1 
Because  we  believe  that  a  certain  book  or  books 
express,  in  one  set  of  words,  what  in  another  phrase- 
ology, the  Bible  teaches,  are  we,  therefore,  not  free  and 
unshackled  in  our  own  interpretation  of  the  Bible ; 
especially  where,  if  at  anj^  time,  we  discover  a  disagree- 
ment  between    the   human   work   and    the   divine,    we 

never  hesitate  a  moment  to  give  the  preference  to  the 

8* 


90  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

latter  1  Are  we,  as  it  is  alleged,  bound  down  to  a 
particular  creed  ?  If  we  are,  it  is  the  creed  of  the 
Scriptures.  Are  we  afraid  to  think  and  to  investigate, 
lest  we  should  be  led  to  adopt  opinions  differing  from 
those  which  our  Confession  expresses  1  I  repeat — it  is 
not  so.  Suppose  I  were  to  say  of  Ridgley's  Divinity 
or  Dwight's  Theology,  that  I  think  it  expresses,  sub- 
stantially, the  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  should  I  dishonor 
the  Bible  by  that  remark?  Should  I  degrade  it  from  the 
high  place  which  it  ought  to  occupy  in  every  mind,  as 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  1  Is  this  any  thing 
more  than  every  preacher  says  by  implication  of  his 
own  sermons  ?  If  he  did  not  think  they  expressed  the 
doctrines  of  the  Bible,  would  he  preach  them  1  How 
then  can  it  dishonor  or  degrade  the  Bible,  if  I  say  the 
same  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  or  of  the  Westminster 
Confession  1 

Much  of  the  outcry  against  systematic  theology  and 
confessions  of  faith,  must  be  accounted  for,  on  the  sup- 
position of  special  odium  against  those  that  now  prevail. 
But  be  not  deceived.  One  of  the  most  certain  indica- 
tions by  which  truth  is  distinguished  from  falsehood,  is 
derived  from  the  fact,  that  one  is  systematic,  while  the 
other  is  not  so.  Truth  has  always  its  connexions  and 
dependances.  It  is  not  a  single  proposition,  but  a 
chain  of  related  propositions.  Now,  if  truth  be  in  itself 
systematic  or  consistent,  our  view  of  truth,  if  it  be  correct, 
must  also  be  systematic.  And  a  creed  is  but  the  con- 
fession of  our  views  of  truth. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  91 


INFIDELS. 


If  infidels  and  careless  persons  cannot  make  it 
absolutely  certain  to  their  minds  that  the  gospel  is 
untrue,  (and  no  one  was  ever  able  to  do  this,)  their 
conduct  is  unreasonable  and  inexcusable.  The  simple 
possibility  of  the  truth  of  such  a  system  as  the  gospel, 
is  quite  sufficient  to  alarm  the  fears,  to  excite  the 
hopes,  and  to  awaken  the  liveliest  interest  of  immortal 
beings.  The  unbeliever  is  acting  as  if  he  were  abso- 
lutely certain  that  the  gospel  is  a  fabrication.  Whereas, 
he  has  no  solid  and  rational  and  abiding  persuasion  that 
even  he,  himself,  may  not  yet  have  to  yield  to  such  an 
overwhelming  weight  of  evidence  in  favor  of  its  truth, 
as  will  satisfy  the  most  reluctant  and  tardy  mind. 

It  is  immoral  and  ungodly  practice  that  produces 
erroneous  opinions.  It  is  free-living  that  produces  free- 
thinking.  There  is  reciprocal  action  of  each  on  the 
other. 

In  giving  us  a  revelation,  God  hath  accompanied  it 
with  evidence  sufficient  to  make  faith  reasonable  and 
unbelief  inexcusable,  and  further  than  this  he  was  not 
bound  to  go. 

How  rare  it  is  to  meet  with,  or  even  read  of,  a  devout 
deist  or  religious  infidel.  There  was  hardly  ever  a 
speculative  deist,  that  was  not  a  thorough-going  prac- 
tical atheist.  And  truly,  if  a  man  gives  up  Christian- 
ity, there  is  not  much  in  religion  worth  retaining — 
nothing,  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  eternity. 


92  SELECT  REMAINS    OF 


INFIDELITY. 

It  is  no  way  wonderful  that  there  should  be  infidels 
now,  when  on  the  awful  day  of  the  crucifixion,  there 
were  so  many  infidels  around  the  cross — -when  though 
the  earth  trembled  under  their  feet,  and  the  heavens 
were  darkened  at  noonday  over  their  heads,  only  a 
single  one  was  made  to  cry  out,  "  Truly  this  was  the 
Son  of  God." 

Infidels  say,  if  our  religion  is  so  important,  why  is  it 
not  universal  ?  Such  ought  to  remember  that  there 
have  been  two  periods  before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour, 
when  it  was  universal,  and  that  since  his  birth,  it  has 
demolished  every  system  of  idolatry  that  was  in  the 
known  world.  It  would,  however,  be  a  sufficient  reply, 
to  such,  to  say,  "  That  with  the  Lord,  one  day  is  as  a 
thousand  years,  and  a  thousand  years  as  one  day ;  and 
that  God  is  not  slack  concerning  his  promise,"  but  has 
reserved,  in  his  infinite  wisdom,  the  latter  day,  for  the 
most  glorious  manifestations  of  his  grace  ;  so  that  if 
Christianity  had  always  been  universal,  it  would,  at 
the  same  time,  have  been  grossly  false  in  its  pre- 
dictions. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  93 


PHILOSOPHY. 

Philosophy  may  boast  that  her's  is  a  tried  founda- 
tion. And  she  may  appeal  to  her  disciples,  as  we  do 
to  Christians,  if  they  have  not  been  supported  by  it 
through  all  the  adventures  of  life,  and  in  the  hour  of 
death.  But  she  has  no  testimony,  as  Christianity  has, 
from  beyond  the  grave.  John  heard  many  voices  in 
heaven,  saying,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb,"  &c.,  but  none 
ever  heard  the  blessed  above,  crying,  "Worthy  is 
philosophy  to  receive  honor  and  glory." 

There  is  a  philosophy  that  pretends  to  a  sovereignty 
over  the  ills  of  life,  boasting  of  a  mithridate,  or  a 
catholicon,  that  will  cure  every  pain  of  the  heart. 
But  ah !  there  is  more  and  longer  grief  in  the  cure  than 
in  the  patient  sufferance  of  the  ill.  It  cures  by  cauter- 
izing the  heart,  so  that  it  shall  not  feel. 


REASON. 


The  province  of  reason  respecting  the  Scriptures,  is 
two-fold  :—^rsf,  to  ascertain  whether  they  bear  the 
marks  of  a  divine  original;  and  secondly,  to  ascertain 
their  true  meaning. 

The  advance  of  the  ancients  was  attended  with  no 


94  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

improvement.  The  much  adored  philosophy,  which 
came  to  its  maturity  in  Greece,  whatever  else  it  did, 
did  nothing-  for  correct  theology.  Athens  had  more 
gods  than  all  Greece  besides ;  and  Socrates,  the  best 
and  wisest  of  Athens,  advised  his  pupil  not  to  pray,  and 
asked,  as  his  dying  request  to  his  friend,  that  he  would 
slay  a  cock,  which  he  had  just  recollected  he  owed  to 
Esculapius. 

At  best,  reason  is  but  a  little  taper,  that  lights  us  on 
our  way  to  death,  when  it  becomes  a  dim  and  dimin- 
ished flame  and  goes  out. 

Reason  has  never  fathomed  the  depths  of  the  future. 
She  can  never  chase  away  its  cloud.  She  goes  with 
you  to  the  utmost  verge  of  life,  points  to  the  darkness, 
and  leaves  you  alone.  If  you  ask  of  her,  what  you 
are  to  expect  beyond  it,  she  can  only  put  into  your 
hand  Plato's  book,  or  Cicero's  commentary  upon  it ; 
and  while  you  doubt,  she  bids  you  die  and  decide  the 
mighty  question.  Oh,  be  "  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God.'* 
Let  him  take  you  by  the  hand, — lead  you  to  the  Bible, 
and  to  the  Saviour,  and  he  will  lead  you,  through 
holiness,  to  heaven — to  God. 

Some  say  their  reason  declares  certain  doctrines  of 
revelation  to  be  untrue,  and  that  is  enough.  Your 
reason  !  And  what,  pray,  is  your  reason  1  How  much 
is  its  dictum  worth  1  What  weighs  your  reason  in  the 
great  scale  of  minds  1  Who  made  it  a  judge  of  what 
its  Maker  ought  to  reveal,  and  ought  to  be  and  ought 
to  do  1  and  to  affirm  that  this  may  be  true,  and  that 
may  not  be  true  1  Do  you  say  that  God  enkindled  this 
light  within  you  ?    True  ;  but  he  meant  it  to  illuminate 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.  D.  95 

its  own  little  sphere,  and  not  to  boast  itself  a  sun,  and 
plant  itself  in  the  lieavens,  in  its  Maker's  place  and 
stead. 

There  be  many  that  say,  reason  is  man's  able  and 
sufficient  teacher,  counsellor  and  guide,  through  earth 
to  heaven  ;  and  that  he  needs  no  other  religion  than 
what  reason  finds  within  the  mind,  and  deduces  from 
works  without  the  mind.  Is  it  so "?  Where  then  was 
reason  when  men  went  from  the  truth  of  the  one  God 
to  polytheism,  that  it  put  in  no  warning  voice  1  When 
the  immortal  bowed  himself  low  to  the  hazeless  sun, 
and  thanked  him  for  his  influences,  was  it  the  igno- 
rance or  the  obstinacy  of  reason,  that  she  did  not  teach 
him  better  1  Could  she  not  penetrate  beyond  a  star,  or 
distinguish  that  which  shone  from  him  who  made  it 
shine  *?  Was  reason  asleep,  when  dead  men  were  made 
gods,  and  worshipped  by  human  suffrage,  and  had  their 
tenements  assigned  them  in  heaven,  and  their  districts 
allotted  them  on  earth '?  It  were  enough  to  canonize, 
and  not  to  deify  !  though  it  may  be  as  bad  to  make  a 
saint  as  a  god.  Idolatry  prevailed.  Was  idolatry  the 
child  of  reason ;  or  did  she  only  adopt  the  infant  1  And 
magic,  divination  of  its  various  kinds,  and  sorcery,  had 
they  their  noble  parentage  in  reason;  or  did  she  only 
stand  godmother  to  them  1  Was  it  her  voice,  that  said 
in  calamity,  slay  a  sacrifice,  and  if  the  calamity  thicken, 
offer  a  hecatomb  ;  study  the  pure  science  of  futurity  in 
the  entrails  of  a  hart ;  mark  and  note  down  the  way 
of  a  bird  in  the  air ;  for  thereby  is  knowledge  of  things 
to  come  1  These  questions  are  sufficiently  answered  by 
the  fact,  that  all  these  absurdities  came  in,  when  reason 


96  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

was  sole  sovereign,  and  when,  in  other  matters,  it  was 
as  vigorous  as  it  ever  has  been.  In  religion  only,  it 
seemed  to  fail,  for  at  the  same  time  that  the  devotion 
of  Eygpt  was  consecrating  reptiles  to  her  worship,  her 
reason  was  demonstrating  theorems  in  geometry.  Nay, 
while  the  priest  was  offering  the  annual  victim  to  the 
Nile,  the  geometrician  was  upon  the  bank,  applying 
his  reasonings  to  the  measurement  of  its  overflowing. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  same  country,  which 
was  the  cradle  of  science,  philosophy,  and  the  arts, 
rocked  the  infancy  of  idolatry  and  superstition. 


FAITH    AND    REASON. 

Faith  is  not  contrary  to  reason,  any  more  than  John 
the  Baptist  was  contrary  to  Christ — than  the  morning 
star  is  contrary  to  the  sun.  They  go  together,  so 
far  as  reason  can  go  at  all,  as  the  elder  and  younger 
prophet,  until,  one  being  left  gazing  up,  the  other 
mounts  a  chariot  of  fire  and  ascends  into  the  third 
heaven.  Though  faith  is  greater  than  reason,  and 
goes  far  beyond  it,  yet  they  are  not  contrary  the  one 
to  the  other. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  97 


THE    BIBLE. 

One  great  advantage  of  the  Bible,  over  other  books, 
is,  that  with  the  latter,  we  have  first  to  inquire  into  the 
sense^  and  then  into  the  truth  of  its  statements,  while 
with  the  Bible,  we  need  to  inquire  only  into  the  sense 
of  a  passage  ;   God  vouches  for  its  truth. 

It  is  incalculably  more  important  to  mankind,  to 
possess  so  much  history  as  is  contained  in  a  few  of  the 
first  chapters  of  Genesis,  than  all  the  volumes  of  all  the 
profane  historians  have  ever  written ;  for  the  former 
tells  us  of  matters  that  wit  and  reason  never  could  have 
discovered. 

Truth  is  recorded  in  the  Bible,  as  the  stars  are 
sprinkled  upon  the  firmament.  There  is  no  appearance 
of  system  in  either.  And  yet,  in  astronomy,  is  there 
not  order,  arrangement,  the  most  perfect  system  1  And 
may  not  the  same  be  true  of  the  Bible  1  Is  there  har- 
mony in  creaied  objects  and  not  in  revealed  truth  1  Is 
not  the  truth  one  and  concordant  1 

If  the  system  revealed  in  the  Bible  is  not  a  fable,  it 
is  certainly  not  a  trifle. 

It  is  the  grand  peculiarity  of  the  Christian  revelation, 
that  it  makes  human  destiny,  in  all  its  weight  and 
eternity,  to  hang  and  turn  on  the  treatment  that  men 
give  to  Jesus  Christ — his  person,  his  doctrine,  his  laws. 

It  is  wonderful,  that  profaneness  is  not  awed  into 
veneration,  and  infidelity  disarmed  of  its  doubts  and 
objections,    by    the    amazing    grandeur    of   even    the 


98  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

descriptions  of  the  Bible.  There  is  in  them,  a  simpli- 
city that  attempts  nothing,  and  yet  a  sublimity  that 
towers  above  every  thing.  I  inquire,  not  where  is  the 
piety,  or  the  learning,  or  the  good  sense,  or  the  decency ; 
but  I  ask,  where  is  the  taste  of  the  man  that  can  dip 
his  pen  in  gall  to  assail  and  write  down  such  a  book  as 
thisl  Where  is  his  susceptibility  of  high  emotions  1 
One  might  as  well  attempt  to  write  down  the  wonders 
of  nature,  to  defame  the  storm  and  the  tempest,  or  to 
cast  Etna  or  Niagara  out  of  the  works  of  God,  as  to 
show  that  such  a  passage  of  Scripture,  as  for  instance, 
that  in  Revelation  xx,  11 — 15,  was  not  from  God. 

Those  who  complain  that  they  cannot  understand 
the  Bible,  understand  much  more  of  it  than  they  make 
any  good  use  of.  Parts  of  it  are  too  plain  for  them  ; 
they  mortify  their  pride ;  they  interfere  with  the  grati- 
fication of  their  lusts. 

Much  as  men  affect  to  despise  the  Bible,  it  is  a  book 
which  shall  be  honored  to  have  a  place  before  the 
throne  of  God,  when  that  throne  shall  be  set  for  judg- 
ment ; — a  book  which,  whether  men  will  now  consent 
to  be  ruled  by  it  or  not,  they  will  have  to  be  judged  by 
hereafter. 

Though  the  Bible  brings  into  view  some  most  cheer- 
ing and  encouraging  truths,  it  does  not  authorize 
unconcern.  There  are  appalling  as  well  as  consoling 
doctrines  in  this  holy  book.  It  employs  the  language 
of  threatening,  as  well  as  that  of  promise.  If  there  is 
every  thing  in  it  that  can  inspire  hope,  there  is  also  in 
it  every  thing  that  could  beget  salutary  fear.  It  makes 
not  heaven  more  certain  to  some,  than  it  does  hell  to 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  99 

others  ;  and  while  it  publishes  salvation,  it  does,  on  the 
same  high  authority,  speak  of  "  the  wrath  to  come." 
It  asks  thee  what  thou  art,  before  it  tells  thee  what 
thou  shalt  be.  If,  with  a  penitent  and  believing  heart, 
thou  art  following  Jesus,  the  cross  in  thy  hand,  and 
heaven  in  thine  eye,  it  tells  thee,  thou  art  the  child  of 
God,  the  favorite  of  angels,  the  heir  of  glory,  unfading 
and  eternal.  But  if  otherwise,  it  tells  thee  as  plainly 
and  as  positively,  that  thou  art  a  child  of  Satan  and  an 
heir  of  hell.  Does  this  blessed  volume  authorize  list- 
lessness  and  encourage  indolence,  when  it  tells  thee 
that  strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is  the  way  that 
leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find  it ;  and 
urges  thee  to  add  to  seeking,  agonizing  strife,  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate  1  In  the  last  general  conflagration, 
all  books  ever  read  or  known  on  earth,  shall  be  con- 
sumed, except  the  Bible,  which  will  remain  uninjured, 
and  will  be  preserved  unto  the  judgment,  and  will  be 
the  only  authority  recognised  in  the  trials  and  decisions 
of  that  day. 

Admit  the  Bible  to  be  uninspired, — is  there  nothing 
to  be  alarmed  or  uneasy  about  after  that !  Verily,  there 
is  more  than  ever.  The  book  of  providence  and  nature, 
the  infidel's  Bible,  is  a  far  more  terrific  volume  than  the 
Christian's  Bible.  The  views  it  presents  of  the  charac- 
ter of  God  are  nothing  like  so  satisfactory.  Where  is 
that  chapter  in  it  that  is  headed,  "  Mercy  ?"  In  what 
part  does  it  treat  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin  and  the  life 
everlasting  ?  On  what  page  are  its  invitations,  encour- 
agements and  promises,  recorded  1  Where  is  there  a 
word  in  it  to  calm  a  troubled  conscience  ?    How  does  it 


100  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

extract  the  sting  and  annihilate  the  horrors  of  death  1 
What  foundation  does  it  discover,  on  which  one  may- 
erect  the  hope  of  future  happiness  1  It  is  amazing  that 
any  should  fly  to  it  for  consolation,  and  above  all, 
astonishing,  that  any  should  fly  from  the  holy  Scrip- 
tures to  it,  and  imagine  they  have  made  a  grand 
escape,  when  they  have  shaken  off  the  belief  of  that 
only  book,  which,  while  it  proclaims  glory  to  God, 
publishes  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men.  Admit 
that  the  infidel  does  live  without  care  and  without 
concern,  he  yet  may  safely  be  defied  to  make  it  appear 
reasonable.  Admit  that  he  dies  without  anxiety  or 
apprehension.  Thus  the  great  metaphysical  skeptic  of 
Britain  died.  But  in  vain  has  his  admirer  and  eulogist, 
the  political  economist,  endeavored  to  assign  any  good 
reason  for  it.  After  all,  he  has  only  shown  the  world 
that  his  friend  died  as  the  fool  dieth. 

Every  one  must  perceive  this  peculiarity  about 
Christianity,  that  it  could  not  originally  have  been 
believed  to  be  true,  without  being  true  ;  because,  in- 
stead of  merely  comprising  a  set  of  opinions,  it  is  built 
on  a  fact,  concerning  which,  as  stated,  there  could  have 
been  no  danger  of  mistake.  If  Christianity  had  been 
merely  a  system  of  faith,  then  the  fact  of  its  making 
converts,  would  only  have  proved  that  certain  persons 
believed  it  to  be  true,  not  that  it  was  actually  true  ;  but 
Christianity  was  made  to  rest  its  whole  weight  on  the 
single  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection.  If,  therefore,  the 
risen  Jesus  was  seen  and  heard  and  handled  after  his 
resurrection,   this    would  prove    not    only  that    some 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  101 

people  supposed  him  to  be  alive,  but  that  he  had 
actually  risen  from  the  dead. 

Some  think  and  even  speak  contemptuously  of  the 
religion  of  the  heart — of  Christianity  as  demanding 
special  control  over  the  affections,  as  a  thing  felt.  It  is 
truly  strange.  Other  subjects  touch  and  take  hold  of 
the  heart,  why  should  not  religion  1  Patriotism  has  its 
seat  there  ;  friendship  lives  among  the  affections  ;  there 
the  child  cherishes  his  parent,  and  the  parent  his  child. 
And  may  not  our  God  and  Saviour  have  a  place  and  a 
name  there  1  We  feel  towards  all  other  beings,  and 
may  we  not,  must  we  not,  towards  Him,  who  both  crea- 
ted and  redeemed  usi 

The  Bible  is  by  no  means  to  be  considered  an  elemen- 
tary book.  It  is  not  written  in  the  manner  of  such 
compositions.  It  does  not  contain  the  easy  lessons  of 
children,  arranged  in  an  order  adapted  to  their  progres- 
sive intelligence.  It  is  not  a  primer ;  but  while  there 
is  much  in  it  which  a  child  may  understand,  and  while 
it  points  out  a  path  in  which  the  wayfaring  man, 
though  a  fool,  need  not  err,  there  are  also  in  it  things 
hard  to  be  understood,  things  deep  and  high,  which 
they  that  are  unlearned  and  unstable  may  wrest  to 
their  own  destruction. 

The  doctrine  of  the  insufficiency  of  the  word  alone, 

and  without  the  Spirit  to  make  the  sinner  wise  unto 

salvation,  is  no  disparagement   of  the   Bible,   and  no 

reflection  on  its  author ;   because  the  defect  is  not  in 

the  book,  but  the  fault  is  in  the   mind  of  the  reader. 

It  is  not  that  the  object  is  not  sufficiently  illuminated ; 

it  is   that  our  spiritual  vision    is   clouded  by   sin.     If 

9* 


102  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

the  human  soul  were  in  the  right  state,  the  mere 
teaching  of  the  word  would  be  suflEicient.  A  treatise  on 
the  mathematics  may  be  good  and  plain,  though  it 
should  not  make  every  man  who  reads  it  a  good 
mathematician. 

We  have  no  doubt  that  they  who  lived  before  the 
advent  of  Christ,  were  much  better  acquainted  with 
him,  and  with  the  way  of  salvation  through  him,  and 
had  a  much  clearer  view  of  the  objects  of  faith,  than 
we  are  accustomed  to  suppose  when  reading  the  Old 
Testament  scriptures.  We  are  not  to  presume  that  we 
have  all  the  revelations  of  God  to  our  race,  recorded  in 
this  volume.  It  is  probable  that  we  have  only  so  much 
as  was  necessary  and  convenient  to  be  transmitted. 


GOD'S    WORD. 

It  is  a  strange  way  some  have  of  treating  God's 
word.  They  will  get  from  it  a  truth  which  they  can 
get  from  no  other  quarter,  but  instead  of  receiving  its 
explanations  of  the  truth,  they  will  go  and  make  their 
own  unauthorized  inferences  from  it.  They  will  reason 
upon  it,  until  they  have  positively  contradicted  the 
testimony  of  the  very  book,  whence  they  derive  the 
doctrine.  Is  this  fair  1  Is  it  consistent  t  If  you  know 
that  God  is  merciful,  only  because  he  says  that  he  is, 
ought  you  not  to  give  attention  and  credence  to  all  he 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  103 

has  to  say  about  this  attribute  of  his  nature  1  If  God 
condescends  to  begin  to  speak  to  you  on  a  subject,  is  it 
not  the  part  of  decorum,  at  least,  to  hear  him  through  ? 
Is  it  not  the  veriest  presumption  to  deduce  conclusions 
from  his  declarations,  which  he  expressly  tells  you  that 
you  must  not ;  and  to  put  interpretations  on  his  lan- 
guage, which  he  virtually  says,  his  language  will  not 
bear  1  Is  it  not  his  prerogative  to  determine  on  what 
ground,  in  what  way,  and  towards  what  characters  he 
will  exercise  compassion? 


THE    JEWISH    CHURCH. 

The  object  of  God  in  calling  Abraham,  was  not  as 
some  seem  to  think,  to  take  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
religion /rom  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  confine  it 
to  that  man  and  his  posterity  ;  but  it  was  to  preserve 
it  in  one  nation,  even  if  all  others  should  lose  it.  It 
was  that  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  might  not 
perish  from  off  the  earth.  It  certainly  did  exist  among 
many  people,  even  after  Abraham  was  called.  It  was 
with  Melchizedec,  with  John,  with  Abimelech,  with 
the  earlier  Pharaohs,  at  least  among  their  priests  ;  for 
Joseph,  who  was  one  of  the  best  men  in  all  antiquity, 
married  the  daughter  of  an  Egyptian  priest,  and  if  he 
had  not  found  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  with 
them,  he  certainly  would  have  imparted  it.     So,  too,  the 


104  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

wise  men,  who  came  to  visit  "the  child  that  was 
born  in  Bethlehem,"  are  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  pious  Gentiles.  So  that  the  Jewish  system  was 
no  injury  even  to  the  Gentiles,  but  on  the  contrary, 
a  blessing.  There  has  never  been  a  time  when  a 
penitent  Gentile  was  not  as  acceptable  to  God  as  a 
penitent  Jew. 


CHRISTIANITY. 

The  Christian  system  derives  its  chief  value  and 
importance,  not  from  the  things  which  it  has  in  com- 
mon with  other  systems,  but  from  those  things  by 
which  it  is  strikingly  distinguished  from  all  of  them. 
The  Christian  system  is  a  system  of  salvation  only  in 
virtue  of  its  peculiarities. 

What  is  Christianity '?  Various  definitions  may  be 
given  of  it.  It  is  faith  working  by  love.  It  is  evangel- 
ical principle  carried  out  into  practice.  It  is  such  a 
belief  of  the  Bible  as  affects  the  heart  and  controls  the 
conduct  of  a  man.  It  is  the  union  of  piety  and  charity. 
It  is  good  will  producing  good  works.  It  is  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek- 
ness and  temperance,  beautifully  blended.  It  is  charity 
out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  of  a  good  conscience,  and  of 
faith  unfeigned.  But  it  is  best  understood,  not  from 
contemplating  abstract  definitions  of  it,  but  from  be- 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.   D.  105 

holding  its  correct  form,  tlie  animated  model,  the 
living  exemplification  of  it.  There  was  one  in  whom 
it  breathed  and  spoke  and  acted.  And  that  was  none 
other  than  Christ  himself.  Christianity  is  the  imitation 
of  Christ.  This  is  the  most  sublime  idea  and  correct 
definition  of  it. 

Can  any  man  believe  that  it  is  as  well  to  grope  one's 
w^m^jto  the  grave  through  the  darkness  of  a  moral 
midnight,'^ii?'  to  walk  a  path,  over  which  the  sun  of 
righteousness  keeps  perpetual  noon  1  The  truth  is,  we 
owe  to  God,  for  Christianity,  a  debt  of  gratitude,  which 
we  would  do  better  to  be  paying,  than  wasting  our 
time  in  proving  that  it  is  not  due. 


THE    GOSPEL. 

The  Gospel  comprehends  whatever  is  great  and  fair 
and  good.  The  sublime,  the  beautiful  and  the  useful, 
all  unite  in  it.  There  is  also  one  important  sense  in 
which  it  is  ever  new. 

The  Gospel  of  Christ,  or  the  Covenant  of  Grace,  is 
not  merely  remedial.  It  is  more.  It  not  only  cures 
the  disease  of  nature,  but  raises  to  a  higher  life.  Christ 
is  not  a  mere  restorer.  He  raises  the  fallen  to  an  un- 
speakably higher  elevation  than  that  from  which  they 
fell.  He  does  much  more  than  make  up  the  loss  they 
sustained  in  the  apostacy.      He  causes  them  to  realize 


106  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

infinite  gain.  He  brings  them  back  to  a  nearer  relation 
to  the  Godhead,  than  that  from  which  they  broke 
away.  Does  he  reinstate  them  in  an  earthly  paradise  1 
Nay  ;  but  he  exalts  them  to  the  heavenly.  What  was 
the  earthly  to  the  heavenly  1  There  no  temptation  will 
assail,  no  enemy  come  in  ;  there  every  tree  is  a  tree  of 
life,  and  all  the  rivers  flow  with  pleasure.  "  Where  sin 
abounded,  giace  did  much  more  abound;" — "much 
more  the  grace  of  God;"  Rom.  v,  15;  and  "much  more 
they  which  receive  abundance  of  grace  ;"  Rom.  v,  17. 
There  is  no  more  triumphant  thought  suggested  by  our 
religion  than  this, — the  superiority,  in  point  of  dignity 
and  happiness,  of  that  condition  to  which  grace  exalts 
us  above  that  from  which  sin  cast  us  down.  The  good 
forfeited  was  such  as  Adam,  a  mere  man  like  one  of 
us,  would  have  earned,  if  he  had  been  obedient.  The 
good  that  awaits  us,  is  the  reward  of  the  obedience  of 
a  Being  infinitely  more  illustrious  than  was  Adam. 
"The  first  man  was  of  the  earth,  earthy; — the  second 
man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven  ;  and  as  we  have  borne 
the  image  of  the  earthy,  so  shall  we  also  bear  the 
image  of  the  heavenly." 

To  add  to  the  Gospel  of  Christ  may  constitute  as 
fatal  a  perversion  as  to  subtract  from  it.  It  is  not  more 
mischievous  to  separate  from  the  Gospel  some  of  its 
essential  principles,  than  it  is  to  incorporate  with  those 
principles  others  that  do  not  naturally  belong  to  it.  A 
corrupted  Gospel  is  as  destructive  as  a  discarded  Gos- 
pel. It  is  as  injurious  to  believe  too  much  as  to  believe 
too  little.  If  a  man  held  that  we  are  justified  partly  by 
the  faith  of  Christ,  and  partly  by  our  own  obedience. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  107 

whether  it  be  moral  or  ceremonial,  he  is  fallen  from 
grace,  equally  as  if  he  denied  the  necessity  of  any 
dependance  on  Christ.  In  either  case,  Christ  is  become 
of  no  effect  to  liim.  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world 
to  save  sinners,  not  to  help  them  to  save  themselves ; 
not  to  do  something  towards  saving  them  ;  not  to  save 
them  in  part ;  but  by  his  blood  and  Spirit  to  do  all 
that  was  necessary  to  their  salvation,  and  all  that  is  in- 
volved in  their  salvation.  Christ  came  not  to  make 
up  the  deficiencies  of  our  righteousness,  but  to  make  out 
a  complete  righteousness  for  us  ;  not  to  supply  what  is 
wanting  in  human  merit,  but  himself  alone  to  merit  for 
us  all  we  need  or  shall  need  through  eternity.  He  and 
he  alone  must  be  depended  on.  His  and  his  only  must 
be  all  the  glory. 

There  is  nothing  more  remarkable  in  the  Bible, 
nothing  more  admirable,  nothing  more  distinctive  of  it 
as  the  word  of  God,  and  not  the  work  of  man,  than  the 
simplicity  of  the  method  of  salvation  which  it  reveals  ; 
and  especially  as  it  regards  that  which  the  sinner  him- 
self has  to  do.  There  is  mystery  connected  with  the 
plan  of  salvation,  it  is  true  ;  mystery  in  the  person  of 
Christ,  mystery  in  his  sufferings,  and  mystery  in  the 
operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  but  mystery  is  not  neces- 
sarily inconsistent  with  simplicity.  And  besides  we 
have  nothing  to  do  with  the  mysteries  of  the  method, 
but  just  to  believe  them  as  facts.  It  is  not  made 
our  duty  to  unravel  or  comprehend  them  ;  but  only 
to  believe  them.  And  there  is  no  more  difficulty  in 
believing  a  mysterious  fact,  than  a  fact  not  mysterious, 
if  there  be  suflScient  evidence  of  it.     Our  belief  of  a 


108  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

statement,  depends  not  on  the  nature  of  it,  but  on  the 
evidence  which  supports  it. 

The  Gospel  transcended  expectation,  and  it  surpassed 
conception.  Even  heaven,  that  w^as  accustomed  to 
God's  benevolence,  was  amazed  at  it,  and  angels  have 
never  yet  recovered  from  the  astonishment  which  seized 
them,  when  first  they  contemplated  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow.  Yet  wretched 
men  affect  to  conceive  that  impostors  have  forged,  or 
enthusiasts  devised  the  glorious  Gospel ;  or  at  least 
they  can  see  nothing  marvellous  in  it.  Oh,  the  human 
mind  was  no  more  capable  of  contriving  the  Gospel, 
than  human  hands  were  of  spreading  out  and  garnish- 
ing the  heavens.  Creation  no  more  than  redemption, 
bears  the  impress  of  Divinity. 

It  is  a  received  principle  among  the  skeptics,  that  of 
two  miracles,  one  of  which  must  be  believed,  we  must 
choose  the  less,  as  being  the  least  opposed  to  reason. 
On  this  principle,  the  infidel  is  bound  to  believe  the 
Gospel.  For  to  regard  the  Bible  as  false,  would  com- 
pel us  to  believe  a  more  marvellous  thing,  than  to 
receive  it  as  true.  It  is  far  less  improbable,  that  this 
narrative,  with  all  its  stupendous  facts  and  revelations, 
should  be  true,  than  that  any  man,  or  set  of  men,  should 
have  been  able  to  invent  it.  The  latter  supposition  is 
too  monstrous  to  be  received  by  any  thing  but  a  bad 
heart.  If  the  Gospel  came  not  from  the  inspiration  of 
the  Most  High,  will  they  that  deny  it,  tell  us  where  it 
did  come  from  ]  Since  it  professes  to  come  from  God,  if 
it  did  not  come  from  him,  it  proceeded  from  a  gang  of 
abominable  impostors ;  and  yet  it  contains,  incontesta- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  109 

bly,  the  most  pure  and  perfect  system  of  ethics  and 
theology,  that  has  ever  been  presented  to  the  world. 
So  that  the  purest  and  sublimest  doctrines  had  their 
derivation  from  the  boldest  impiety,  and  that  which  has 
done  more  than  all  other  things  put  together,  both  to 
inform  mankind  of  their  duty,  and  to  spur  them  on  to 
its  performance,  was  the  work  of  some  of  the  worst 
men  that  ever  lived!  Is  not  this  a  wonderful  thing,  a 
most  stupendous  miracle  1  And  yet  the  falsehood  of  the 
Gospel  involves  this,  and  the  infidel  must  believe  it. 
Or  will  it  be  said,  that  the  evangelists  and  apostles 
were  weak  and  enthusiastic  men — not  preserved  from 
old  wives'  fables,  by  any  sound  philosophy  1  Then 
enthusiasm,  than  Avhich  nothing  is  more  easily  de- 
tected, and  nothing  more  wild  and  incoherent  than  its 
works,  has  produced  a  sober  and  harmonious  system, 
which  does  not  bear  a  single  characteristic  of  that 
which  produced  it,  nor  has  the  smallest  affinity  with  it; 
and  a  system  which  has  sustained  every  attack  made 
upon  it  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  has,  at  this 
moment,  among  its  friends,  a  large  majority  of  the 
wisest,  most  learned,  most  scientific  and  most  sober 
men  on  earth.  Here  is  another  miracle  which  the 
system  of  unbelief  involves. 

10 


110  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


THE     POWER    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

The  Gospel  is  the  most  powerful  agent  of  which  we 
have  any  knowledge.  It  is,  (so  far  as  known)  univer- 
sal in  its  operations,  and  predominant  in  its  influence. 
There  is  no  man  that  can  escape  from  its  power,  how- 
ever much  he  may  desire  to  do  so.  He  may  think  that 
he  does,  but  he  is  mightily  mistaken.  No  one  that  has 
once  had  the  knowledge  of  it,  can  ever  get  out  of  the 
reach  of  it.  You  may  let  it  alone,  but  it  will  not  let 
you  alone.  You  may  shut  out  the  light  of  the  natural 
sun,  and  secure  yourself  from  its  various  influences,  but 
you  cannot  entirely  exclude  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
from  your  understanding  and  conscience.  You  can 
find  no  place  where  it  will  not  exert  its  influences  upon 
you.  You  have  been  affected  by  it  in  all  time  past. 
You  will  be  affected  by  it  to-day.  You  are  not  to-day, 
what  you  were  yesterday ;  nor  will  you  be  to-morrow, 
what  you  are,  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  to-day.  And 
these  alterations  that  are  continually  going  on  in  you, 
are  either  wholly  effected,  or  greatly  modified  by  the 
Gospel.  You  never  hear  a  sermon,  you  never  read  a 
chapter  of  Holy  Writ,  you  never  live  a  day  under  the 
light  of  the  Gospel,  without  being  affected  by  it.  How 
solemn  and  alarming  the  consideration !  Even  while 
this  thought  is  before  your  mind,  the  soul  within  you  is 
changing  its  complexion  and  its  consistence, — is  becom- 
ing morally,  and  in  the  eye  of  God,  more  and  more 
lovely,  or  more  and  more  deformed, — more  tender  and 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  Ill 

susceptible,  or  more  hard  and  insensible  ;  and  the  Gos- 
pel is  the  great  instrument  in  producing  these  changes. 
You  may  say  that  you  are  entirely  unconscious  of  any 
change,  even  under  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel ;  and 
so  perhaps  you  are.  But  what  of  that  1  We  are  rarely, 
if  ever  conscious  of  the  operation  of  moral  causes  upon 
us.  They  operate,  for  the  most  part,  secretly  and 
insensibly,  yet  not  on  that  account  any  the  less  really 
and  efficiently.  Even  in  regard  to  the  greatest  of 
all  the  changes  which  the  human  character  ever  un- 
dergoes, the  change  which  takes  place  in  regenera- 
tion, when  the  soul  passes  from  sin  to  holiness,  frclm 
death  to  life,  how  few,  whose  lives  prove  that  they 
have  experienced  it,  can  point  to  the  precise  time,  when 
they  even  suppose  it  was  effected.  They  may  prove 
from  infallible  signs,  that  it  has  been  wrought  in  them, 
but  they  are  not  conscious  of  the  working.  And  is 
the  Christian  sensible  of  the  progress  by  which  he  is 
gradually  becoming  more  and  more  holy  and  like  unto 
Godi  And  how  does  he  know  that  he  is  progressively 
sanctified  by  the  truth  1  Not  by  his  consciousness, 
while  the  operation  is  going  on,  but  by  comparing  his 
character  at  one  period  with  the  same  at  some  pre- 
ceding period.  The  same  principle  applies  to  evil 
influences.  They  work  in  secret.  The  heart  is  not 
conscious  of  the  power  that  is  at  work  upon  it.  Indeed, 
the  man  that  is  gradually  becoming  worse  and  worse, 
(as  multitudes  are,  as  in  fact  every  man  is,  who  is  not 
undergoing  a  meliorating  process,)  is  not  only  not  aware 
of  the  several  steps  of  the  depravation,  but  he  is  perhaps 
ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  is  growing  worse.     For  he 


112?  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

is  increasing  in  moral  insensibility.  This  is  the  princi- 
ple alteration  that  is  taking  place  in  him.  Now  we 
know  that  it  is  of  the  nature  of  moral  insensibility  not 
to  be  felt.  There  are,  doubtless,  persons  whom  you 
believe  to  be  worse  than  they  were  some  years  ago. 
But  will  they  confess  iti  No ;  they  are  so  blinded  that 
they  do  not  see,  so  hardened  that  they  do  not  feel  it. 
If  they  are  incredulous  of  the  fact,  what  wonder  that 
they  should  be  ignorant  of  the  means  and  unconscious 
of  the  process.  Do  you  suppose  that  Hazael,  from  the 
time  of  his  interview  with  the  prophet,  was  sensible  of 
the  means  and  steps  by  which  he  became  the  accom- 
plished villain,  that  could  do  any  thing  1  And  do  you 
suppose  that  Pharaoh  was  conscious  of  the  indurating 
process,  that  was  going  on  in  his  heart,  while  he  re- 
sisted God,  in  refusing  to  permit  the  departure  of 
the  children  of  Israel  ]  Who  can  think  that  he  was  ? 
Who  can  believe  that  any  man  is  1  He  who  questions 
the  correctness  of  these  views,  does  but  expose  his 
ignorance  of  human  nature.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that 
while  some  of  you,  under  the  influences  of  the  Gospel, 
are  becoming  better,  others  of  you  are  growing  worse, 
though  you  know  it  not,  and  cannot  see  how  it  should 
be  so.  So  that  the  Gospel  may  be  producing  all  the 
effects  ascribed  to  it,  your  ignorance  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  Indeed  it  is  every  day  preparing  for 
you  an  infinite  and  eternal  good,  or  entailing  upon  you 
an  interminable  and  inconceivable  evil.  For,  as  the 
Scripture  plainly  declares,  it  does  not  affect  all  men 
alike,  yet  does  it  affect  all  powerfully.  "  To  some,  it 
is  a  savour  of  death  unto  death  ;  to  others,  of  life  unto 


WtLLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  113 

life."  Two  processes  are  going  on  under  its  influence, 
destruction  and  salvation.  It  is  drawing  the  cords  of 
love  closer  around  some  ;  it  is  binding  the  chains  of 
sin  faster  on  others.  It  is  softening  some,  hardening 
others ;  beautifying  some,  rendering  others  hideous  ; 
laying  up  mercy  for  those,  treasuring  up  wrath  for 
these  ;  curing  and  killing.  Nor  need  any  be  troubled 
or  surprised  at  the  ascription  of  such  opposite  effects  to 
the  Gospel.  The  most  benignant  influence  not  only 
produces  its  appropriate  and  benign  effects,  but  also  some- 
times gives  rise  to  the  most  malignant  results.  In  such 
case,  the  fault  lies  not  in  the  influence,  but  in  the  state 
of  the  mind  affected  by  it.  It  is  not  to  be  imputed  to 
the  Gospel  as  a  fault  to  be  answered  for,  that  it  hard- 
ens, deforms,  and  destroys.  It  is  the  fault  of  him  who 
is  hardened,  deformed,  and  destroyed.  The  legitimate, 
direct,  and  intended  effect  of  the  Gospel,  for  which 
alone  it  is  answerable,  is  only  salutary.  "  God  sent 
not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but 
that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved."  You 
must  not  suppose  that  the  Gospel  sends  forth  two 
diff*erent  kinds  of  influence,  one  salutary  and  the  other 
pernicious.  No  ;  its  influence  is  one,  and  most  lienign; 
but  falling  on  different  substances,  they  are  differently 
affected  by  it.  It  is  with  the  Gospel  as  it  is  with  the 
sun.  One  genial,  kindly,  glorious  influence  is  sent 
forth  from  that  body  ;  yet,  while  it  melts  some  sub- 
stances, it  hardens  others  ;  while  it  vivifies,  cheers,  and 
rejoices  all  nature,  it  raises  the  malignant  vapor,  and 
charges  the  atmosphere  of  many  a  region  with  deafh  ; 

while  it  melts  the  wax,  it  hardens  the  clay  ;  while  it 

10* 


114  SELECT    REMAINS    Of 

ripens  the  precious  fruit,  it  matures  also  the  poisonous  ; 
while  it  prepares  the  wheat  for  the  garner,  it  prepares 
the  tares  for  the  fire.  If  these  things  be  so,  what  self- 
sufficiency,  ignorance  and  error,  do  they  manifest,  who 
think  lightly  of  the  Gospel.  Even  if  the  Gospel  be  a 
falsehood,  it  is  far  from  being  a  despicable  falsehood. 
But  if  true,  it  is  tremendously  true. 

What  a  blessed  truth,  that  as  we  have  no  ability  to 
escape  the  influence  of  the  Gospel,  we  may,  by  God's 
grace  choose  the  manner  in  which  we  will  be  affected 
by  it. 

Observation  and  experience  plainly  show  that  they 
are  mistaken,  who  suppose  that  the  interests  of  moral- 
ity are  promoted  by  disuniting  it  from  religion,  and 
making  it  to  rest  on  a  foundation  of  its  own.  In  pre- 
senting the  doctrines,  duties,  and  motives  of  the  pure 
Gospel,  we  are  taking  the  best  means  to  make  men 
moral,  and  so  good  members  of  the  family  and  the 
neighborhood,  and  good  citizens  of  this  brief  world. 
No  statements  or  teachings  can  compare  with  those 
which  are  purely  evangelical,  in  reforming  the  disso- 
lute, taming  the  ferocious,  humbling  the  proud,  quiet- 
ing the  turbulent,  and  inspiring  the  malignant  with 
benevolence. 

When  ye  make  Christ  your  refuge,  ye  can  no  more 
live  unto  yourselves,  than  previously  ye  could  live  to 
any  but  yourselves. 

The  Gospel  gives  pardon  to  the  guilty  and  liberty  to 
the  captive,  purity  to  the  polluted  heart,  peace  to  the 
troubled  conscience,  hope  to  the  desponding  spirit,  joy 
unspeakable   to   the   sorrowful   soul,   and  its   ultimate 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  115 

boon  is  glory,  honor,  immortality,  and  eternal  life, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  To  this  height  of 
happiness  and  honor,  it  raises  men  from  the  deepest 
degradation,  from  the  lowest  misery,  from  the  foulest 
guilt,  from  the  most  fearful  exposure,  all  but  from  hell 
itself. 

You  have  to  choose,  not  whether  you  will  be  influenced 
by  the  Gospel,  but  how.  Shall  it  take  away  your  guilt, 
or  increase  it  1  Shall  it  bring  you  into  a  state  of  sal- 
vation, or  confirm  you  in  a  lost  state  1  Shall  it  heal 
your  wound,  or  irritate  it  1 


GOD. 

Our  Maker  is  so  transcendantly  interesting  a  Being 
to  us,  that  in  the  ignorance  of  Him,  we  cease  to  be 
interesting  to  ourselves.  And  if  atheism  be  true,  an- 
nihilation would  be  the  object  of  most  earnest  longing 
to  all  thinking  men. 

The  security  of  creatures  for  the  present,  and  their 
hopes  for  the  future,  have  their  foundation  in  the  moral 
attributes  of  Jehovah.  If  there  be  nothing  in  these  to 
inspire  confidence  and  hope,  there  is  nothing  in  the 
universe  to  inspire  them. 


116  SELECT    REMAINS    QF 


CHARACTER    OF    GOD. 

If  God  is  too  good  and  merciful  to  let  any  perish,  he 
is  too  good  and  merciful  to  say  that  he  will  let  them 
perish  in  case  they  neglect  his  great  salvation.  Yet 
he  has  said  this  again  and  again.  If  he  is  too  good 
to  execute,  he  is  too  good  to  threaten  ;  yet  he  has 
threatened. 

We  are  but  poorly  qualified  to  make  deductions  from 
the  moral  character  of  God.  Many  things  have  taken 
place,  and  many  things  now  exist,  which,  previous  to 
their  existence,  would  have  been  thought  incompatible 
with  the  divine  benevolence  :  as  for  example,  that  sin 
should  have  been  permitted  to  prevail,  and  to  fill  the 
world  with  misery  as  it  has  done  ;  and  even  more,  to 
bring  the  Son  of  God  from  heaven  to  the  cross  and  the 
grave. 

Tell  me  what  you  believe  about  God,  and  I  will  tell 
you  what  you  believe  on  every  fundamental  subject  of 
theology. 

A  knowledge  of  the  true  character  of  God,  is  the 
only  thread  that  can  guide  us  safely  along  the  laby- 
rinth of  truth  ;  and  when  with  this,  we  have  traced  its 
mazes  through,  it  will  conduct  us  out  before  the  open 
gate  of  heaven. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  117 


TRINITY. 

Man  is  constituted  of  two  distinct  principles,  matter 
and  spirit ;  the  one  his  body,  the  other  his  soul.  These 
principles  are  totally  unlike  each  other,  as  any  two 
substances  can  possibly  be,  and  yet  inexplicably  com- 
bined into  one  person,  and  thus  revealing  in  man  a 
duality  in  unity,  which  is  as  really  mysterious  and  as 
truly  open  to  philosophical  objections,  as  the  Trinity  in 
Unity  in  God,  or  as  the  doctrine  of  the  two  distinct 
natures  in  Christ ;  and  I  should  as  soon  think  of  reject- 
ing- the  first,  from  considerations  derived  from  reason, 
as  either  of  the  other  two.  Let  us  clear  away  mystery 
and  incomprehensibility  from  our  own  persons,  before 
we  presume  to  attack  the  person  of  Christ,  and  the 
nature  of  God,  on  this  score. 

I  confess,  that  when  one  reads  a  naked  statement  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  in  a  creed,  it  looks  like 
a  merely  speculative  and  abstract  doctrine,  which, 
whether  true  or  false,  can  be  of  very  little  practical 
importance  to  any.  And  I  am  not  at  all  surprised  that 
many  wonder  why  a  denial  of  it,  should  be  regarded  as 
so  serious  a  heresy.  But  let  it  be  read  where  it  was 
first  taught  in  the  Scriptures, — let  it  be  contemplated  in 
the  connexion  in  which  God  has  placed  it,  and  it  will 
be  found  to  be  inwoven  with  the  whole  plan  of  salva- 
tion, and  essential,  not  merely  to  the  perfection,  but  to 
the  very  existence  of  that  plan  ;  so  that  if  you  touch  it, 
you  make  every  thing  else  to  tremble,  and  if  you  take 


118  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

it  away,  you  take  it  not  alone,  but  draw  down  with  it 
the  whole  beautiful  building  of  God,  and  leave  the 
Gospel,  if  the  remainder  may  be  termed  the  Gospel,  not 
merely  changed  in  one  of  its  features,  but  an  entirely 
different  system  from  what  it  was,  and  you  send  man 
forth  to  look  out  for  himself  another  and  a  new  way  of 
being  saved. 


PROVIDENCE. 


The  best  commentary  on  revelation,  is  Providence. 
God  is  his  own  interpreter.     He  never  errs. 


DECREES,   ELECTION,   PREDESTINATION. 

Men  may  say  what  they  will,  but  of  all  thoughts, 
that  which  is  most  effectual  to  humble,  that  which 
most  overwhelms  with  gratitude,  is  the  thought,  that 
before  I  was  born,  yea,  from  eternity,  God  graciously 
appointed  me  to  salvation,  prepared  me  a  durable  man- 
sion, and  erected  me  a  throne  beside  him. 

What  is  more  common  than  for  a  father,  in  bestowing 
on  a  son  some  good,  to  tell  him  that  it  has  long  been 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  119 

his  design  to  do  it,  or  that  lie  has  always  intended  to 
do  it ;  and  the  existence  of  such  a  long  continued  pur- 
pose is  considered  as  enhancing  the  fatlier's  munifi- 
cence. Christians  ought  to  know  that  God  blesses 
them,  not  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  not  in  conse- 
quence of  any  recent  and  sudden  determination  to  do 
so,  but  in  accordance  with  an  everlasting  intention. 
Nothing  magnifies  the  grace  of  God  more,  than  his 
eternal  purpose  to  exercise  it.  No  consideration  is 
better  suited  to  promote  both  humility  and  gratitude. 
It  fills  the  soul  of  the  believer  with  wonder,  love,  and 
joy,  that  he  should  have  been  among  the  thoughts  of 
God  from  eternity.  Thus  Paul  certainly  felt  and  be- 
lieved, when  he  uttered  that  sublime  thanksgiving  to 
God,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians ;  "  Blessed  be  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath 
blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly 
places  in  Christ ;  according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in 
him  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that  we  should 
be  holy  and  without  blame  before  him  in  love  ;  hav- 
ing predestinated  as  unto  the  adoption  of  children,  by 
Christ  Jesus,  to  himself,  according  to  the  good  pleasure 
of  his  will,  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  his  grace." 

Some  persons  say  that  they  do  not  believe  the  doc- 
trines of  Election  and  Predestination.  But  they,  per- 
haps, do  not  mean  exactly  what  they  say.  If  they 
believe  the  Scriptures,  they  must  and  do  believe  these 
doctrines.  All  who  believe  the  Scriptures,  are  com- 
pelled to  believe  them.  That  is,  they  admit  that 
certain  truths  are  taught,  to  which  these  names  are 
given.      These  persons   only  mean  that  they  do  not 


120  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

beliievie  certain  explanations  of  these  doctrines,  as  for 
example,  that  given  by  Antinomians,  or  that  given  by 
Calvinists.  But  the  doctrine  itself,  is  a  matter  of  as 
clear  revelation,  as  that  of  salvation  by  the  death  of 
Christ. 

Perhaps  most  men  are  really  less  opposed  to  the 
divine  decrees,  than  to  the  things  decreed. 

The  doctrine  of  Predestination  is  not  fatalism.  No 
denomination  of  Christians  in  this  land,  so  teach  the 
doctrine  as  to  discourage  human  efforts.  And  where 
it  is  rightly  understood,  it  is,  in  a  superlative  degree, 
calculated  to  excite  the  mind,  impel  it  on  to  action, 
and  encourage  it  in  making  exertions.  So  far  from 
rendering  our  efforts  useless,  it  establishes  the  necessity 
of  them,  and  ensures  their  success.  Such  has  always 
been  the  effect  of  the  doctrine,  when  rightly  understood, 
and  cheerfully  and  cordially  embraced. 


JUDGMENTS. 


In  times  of  divine  judgments,  there  is  one  reason 
for  the  impenitency  of  the  wicked,  which  does  not  how- 
ever exculpate  them.  It  is  found  in  the  state  of  the 
Church.  No  wonder  the  unregenerate  are  impenitent, 
when  God's  people  are  comparatively  unaffected — no 
marvel  the  former  return  not,  when  the  latter  do  not. 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  121 

It  would  be  surprising  that  the  blind  should  see,  when 
those  who  have  eyes,  do  not  perceive.  If  the  light 
slumbers  of  the  righteous  are  not  broken,  how  should 
the  deep  sleep  of  death  in  the  wicked  be  disturbed  ] 
How  should  that,  which  has  not  melted  ice,  dissolve 
adamant  1  Why  should  the  ungodly  supplicate,  when 
the  righteous  make  not  intercession  ]  Yet  let  not  sin- 
ners wait  for  Christians  to  do  their  duty  1  Anticipate 
them.  God  will  not  despise  a  man's  cry  for  mercy, 
because  others  are  not  praying  for  him.  No  one, 
perhaps,  was  interceding  for  the  publican,  when  he  said, 
"  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner," — no  one  but  the 
great  Intercessor  ;  and  he  "  ever  liveth  to  make  inter- 
cession." The  publican  was  not  saved  in  a  time  of 
revival,  but  of  abounding  formality  and  hypocrisy ; 
therefore  let  no  sinner  wait  for  any  one  to  move  before 
him,  when  God  is  speaking  to  him,  especially  in  the 
voice  of  terrible  judgments. 


GOD'S    MERCY. 

When  we  reflect  on  the  circumstances  under  which 

the  mercy  of  God  was  proclaimed  from  the  mountain, 

that  might  not  be  touched,  and  that  burned  with  fire, 

and  on  the  circvimstances  under  which  it  was  re-echoed 

from  another  mount — from  Calvary — in  other  language 

—a   frowning   heaven   above,    and   a   trembling   earth 

11 


122  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

beneath ;  and  in  the  midst  of  darkness  and  death,  we 
cannot  fail  to  perceive  that  there  is  something  awful  in 
the  mercy  of  God,  and  something  appalling  in  the  for- 
giveness of  the  Gospel.  The  impression  necessarily,  in- 
tentionally, and  really  made  is,  that  there  is  something 
in  God  more  severe  than  mercy ;  something  more  fear- 
ful than  forgiveness.  And  though  we  be  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  a  peaceful  hope,  yet  when  we  reflect  on  the 
price  of  our  salvation,  there  is  much  to  strike  an  awe 
upon  our  spirits.  Christians,  we  live  by  the  death  of 
the  Son  of  God.  God,  to  spare  us,  spared  not  his  own 
Son.  Mount  Calvary,  no  less  than  Mount  Sinai, 
teaches  that  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God,  for  he  is  a  consuming  fire. 


DIVINE    TENDERNESS. 

"Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord 
pitieth  them  that  fear  him."  How  a  father  pities  and 
feels  for  a  child,  they  that  are  fathers  know,  and  they 
that  are  not,  cannot  well  know.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  accounts  of  a  father's  pity,  is  found  in  Leigh 
Richmond's  memoir  of  his  son  Wilberforce.  Think  of 
a  few  particulars,  how  a  father  pities. 

He  so  pities  that  he  is  infinitely  far  from  taking 
delight  in  the  sufferings  of  his  children,  even  when  it 
becomes  necessary  for  their  good  to  inflict  them.      It 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  123 

grieves  him  more  to  chastise  them,  than  them  to  be 
chastised.  In  all  their  afflictions,  he  is  afflicted,  and 
more  than  they.  What  parent,  having  corrected  a  child, 
has  not  gone  away  and  wept  for  pure  pity  of  him  ? 
What  parent,  in  denying  a  child  something,  has  not 
found  it  a  greater  self-denial  1  Is  such,  a  father's 
heart  towards  his  children  1  Such  is  God's  towards 
his.  It  grieves  him  to  chastise.  "  He  does  not  afflict 
willingly,"  nor  "  of  his  pleasure."  "In  all  their  afflic- 
tion he  is  afflicted."  It  is  not  misery,  but  mercy  that  is 
his  delight. 

A  father  so  pities,  that  he  would  spare  or  relieve  his 
child,  if  he  could  with  propriety.  God  has  the  power, 
and  as  often  as,  in  view  of  all  considerations,  it  is  best, 
he  exercises  it.  A  parent,  sometimes  has  the  power, 
and  does  not  extend  it.  The  principle  of  benevolence 
within  him,  which  proposes  the  greatest  good  of  his 
child  for  the  longest  time,  forbids  that  he  should  yield 
to  the  impulse  of  pity,  which  calls  for  the  rendering  of 
immediate  relief.  So  the  Lord  pities.  He  that  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  would 
spare  thee,  child  of  God,  every  sorrow  thou  hast,  and 
would  relieve  thine  every  pain,  but  that  "  whom  the 
Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth,  and  scourgeth  every  son 
whom  he  receiveth." 

A  father  so  pities  his  children,  that  he  would,  if  he 
could,  even  suffer  in  their  stead.  More  than  one 
father  has  said,  "  would  God,  I  had  died  for  thee,  my 
son,  my  son  ! "  And  is  the  pity  of  the  Lord  like  a 
father's,  in  this  particular  too  1  Yes,  the  Lord  doth  thus 
pity.     Our  Lord  could  suffer  thus  in  our  stead.    He  has 


124  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

actually  laid  down  his  life  for  us  ;  and  it  commendeth 
his  love  and  pity,  that  he  did  it  when  we  were  not 
children,  nor  friends,  but  enemies.  Does  he  of  a  truth 
so  pity,  that  he  would  even  suffer  in  their  place,  aye, 
and  die  for  them  ]  He  has  already  so  pitied.  "  Surely 
he  hath  borne  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows."  He 
has  even  died  for  us.  Oh,  what  compassion !  He  hag 
done  what  many  a  father  has  wished  in  vain  he  could 
do.  He  could  suffer  for  the  objects  of  his  love,  and  he 
has  done  so.  He  had  power  over  his  life  to  lay  it  down 
for  them,  and  he  did  it.     So  the  Lord  has  pitied. 

A  father  so  pities  his  children,  that  to  promote  their 
comfort  and  happiness,  he  will  spare  no  pains  and 
no  expense,  and  will  keep  back  nothing.  How  much 
the  parent  will  spend,  if  necessary,  for  the  child.  The 
sorrows  and  wants  of  his  child,  can  open  even  the  heart 
of  the  most  avaricious.  Such  is  the  pity  of  the  Lord. 
He  withheld  not  his  own  Son.  Having  one  Son,  his 
only  begotten  Son,  he  sent  him :  and  how  shall  he  not 
with  him  freely  give  us  all  things,  cost  what  they  may, 
of  love,  and  merc)^,  and  grace,  and  truth,  and  power. 

Such  is  the  pity  of  a  father,  that  if  his  children 
rebel  against  him  and  depart  from  him,  he  will  affec- 
tionately call  them  to  repent,  and  will  not  only  invite, 
but  entreat  them  to  return  to  him;  and  there  are  no 
means  to  relieve  them  which  he  will  leave  untried,  to 
effect  his  tender  purposes.  He  will  do  till  he  can  do  no 
more.  So  the  Lord  pities.  He  asks,  "what  could  I 
have  done  more  that  I  have  not  done  1"  He  invites,  en- 
treats, expostulates,  reasons,  promises,  threatens,  and 
urges,  by  every  possible  consideration.    How  loth  is  the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  125 

father  to  give  up  his  child  and  surrender  all  hope  of  his 
restoration  to  obedience  and  favor.  And  he  says,  "how 
shall  I  give  thee  up  1"  But  that  is  the  very  language 
of  God  respecting  Ephraim.  It  is  inspiration.  How 
does  the  father  hail  the  first  symptom  of  relenting  in 
his  child ;  how  does  he  exult,  even  in  the  faint  prospect 
of  his  being  restored  to  him  ;  and  when  he  sees  him 
beginning  to  return,  how  does  he  not  wait  to  welcome 
him,  but  go  forth  to  meet  and  embrace  him  !  Just 
such  is  the  pity  of  the  Lord  to  them  that  fear  him. 

A  father's  pity  is  such  that  it  does  not  forget  its 
object.  It  is  never  out  of  his  thoughts.  He  needs  not 
to  be  reminded  of  it.  Can  he  forget  1  Can  the  other 
parent,  the  mother  ?  Can  she  1  Yes,  in  some  cases, 
he  may  and  she  may.     "  Yet,  saith  God,  will  not  I." 

If  such  is  the  commiseration  God  has  for  his  children, 
how  entirely  calm  and  free  from  painful  solicitude  they 
may  be,  "casting  all  their  care  upon  him,  for  he  careth 
for  them  ;  being  careful  for  nothing,  but  in  all  things 
by  prayer  and  thanksgiving,  making  known  their 
requests  unto  God,  taking  no  thought,"  since  he  takes 
thought  for  them. 

And  if  such  is  the  pity  of  the  Lord,  what  will  not  his 
bounty  be  1  What  the  munificence  of  his  bounty,  that 
it  may  be  in  proportion  to  the  tenderness  of  his  compas- 
sion 1  It  is  large  now,  but  how  much  larger  it  will  be, 
when  he  has  no  longer  any  occasion  for  pity  and  for- 
bearance— when  misery  is  no  more,  and  sighing  has 
ceased,  and  God's  hand  has,  for  the  last  time,  passed 
across   the   weeping   eyes,   and  wiped   away  the    final 

tear  1     What  must  be  his  generosity,  whose  pity  is  so 

11* 


126  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

great  1  What  will  he  not  do  for  them,  having  so  felt 
for  them  1  What  must  be  the  glory  of  that  place  to 
which  he  will  take  them,  after  he  shall  have  made 
them  perfect  through  sufferings'?  What  exalted  honors, 
what  ecstatic  joys  must  he  not  have  in  reserve  for 
them,  whom  he  came  down  here  to  weep  with,  and  now 
takes  up  thither  to  rejoice  with  1 

And  if  such  is  the  pity  of  the  Lord  to  them  that  fear 
him  in  this  state  of  most  imperfect  sanctification,  his 
pity  towards  them  while  with  their  sufferings  there  is 
mingled  so  much  sin,  what  will  be  his  complacency  in 
them,  when  they  shall  have  ceased  to  sin,  and  shall  be 
perfectly  conformed  to  his  image  1  How  will  he 
delight  himself  in  them,  when  there  is  nothing  in 
them  any  longer,  in  which  he  cannot  take  the  purest 
delight ! 

If  thou  art  the  object  of  such  pity,  be  thyself  the 
subject  of  similar  pity.  Pity  as  thou  art  pitied.  Cared 
for,  thyself,  care  for  others.  Let  the  case  of  others 
reach  thy  heart,  as  thine  reached  God's.  Hast  thou  no 
tears  for  others'  woes;  thou,  for  whom  so  many  have 
been  shed  1  Nor  give  to  misery  merely  thy  tear. 
Tears  did  not  save  thee,  nor  can  they  save  others. 
Speak  the  word  of  consolation ;  reach  out  the  hand  of 
help  ;  do  the  substantial  deeds  of  kindness. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  127 


TERMS  OF  RECONCILIATION  WITH  GOD. 

The  unreasonableness  and  impiety  of  all  the  objec- 
tions made  by  sinners  against  the  provisions,  terms  and 
offers  of  the  Gospel,  are  most  manifest  to  any  one  who 
duly  considers,  that  the  conditions  of  every  reconcil- 
iation ought  naturally  to  come  from  the  party  offended, 
especially  if  he  be  a  superior,  and  more  especially  if  he 
stand  to  the  offender  in  the  relation  of  a  lawgiver  and 
sovereign.  It  is  not  for  the  offending  subject  to  say,  on 
what  terms  peace  and  harmony  shall  be  restored  be- 
tween him  and  his  offended  sovereign.  It  is  the  sov- 
ereign's sole  and  unquestionable  prerogative  to  ordain 
the  terms.  Favor  is  a  thing  that  cannot  be  claimed — 
it  must  be  offered.  To  God,  therefore,  must  we  look 
for  the  terms  of  reconciliation  between  him  and  us. 

In  the  case  of  those  who  have  sinned  against  God, 
the  Sovereign  offended  is  the  only  being  who  can  know 
on  what  terms  it  is  fit  and  proper  that  he  should  be 
reconciled  to  his  offending  subjects.  None  but  the 
lawgiver,  whose  law  it  is  that  has  been  violated,  can 
say,  under  what  circumstances  it  is  safe  and  right  that 
he  should  forgive  the  violation  of  his  law.  None  but 
he  has  the  means  of  judging  what  terms  will  best 
secure  the  honor  of  his  government  and  the  good  of  the 
offender.  Thus  our  reason  is  unable  to  anticipate  on 
such  a  subject,  and  is  guilty  of  the  boldest  presumption 
in  pronouncing,  that  on  such  and  such  terms  God  ought 
to  be,  and  doubtless  will  be,   reconciled  to  man.     No 


128  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

cherub  or  seraph  ever  was  so  daring,  or  so  confided  in 
his  own  powers.  Inasmuch,  therefore,  as  they  must 
come  from  Him,  and  reason  cannot  tell  what  they 
ought  to  be,  we  see  the  necessity  of  a  communication 
from  God,  revealing  the  conditions  of  human  salvation. 

The  sovereign  has  evidently  a  right  to  exercise  a 
great  deal  of  authority  in  making  his  terms.  His  own 
good  pleasure  is  a  suflScient  reason  for  any  article  that 
he  chooses  to  introduce  into  the  conditions  of  reconcil- 
iation. He  is  not  bound  to  explain,  why  the  conditions 
are  such  as  they  are.  The  offender  ought  not  to  ask 
an  explanation.  We  allow  thus  much  to  earthly  sov- 
ereigns and  to  hviman  parents.  A  father  may  connect 
his  favor  and  blessing  with  the  performance  of  condi- 
tions by  his  child,  the  reason  and  propriety  of  which 
he  does  not  explain,  and  which  to  the  child  may  appear 
to  be  purely  arbitrary.  And  may  not  God  do  the  same? 
Is  he  bound  to  tell  us  why  he  connects  our  pardon  and 
happiness  with  these  conditions  and  not  with  others  1 
May  we  call  him  to  account  for  the  terms  on  which  he 
proposes  to  be  reconciled  to  us,  and  suggest  others 
which  we  think  would  have  been  more  suitable,  and 
refuse  to  do  what  he  commands,  until  he  explains  why 
he  commands  it  1 

Another  remark  having  a  bearing  on  this  subject,  and 
one  which  can  hardly  fail  of  convincing  all  candid  men 
of  the  unreasonableness  of  cavilling  at  the  conditions  of 
salvation  and  the  positive  institutions  of  the  Gospel,  is, 
that  an  Omnipotent  Being  has  ordained  them.  When 
a  feeble  fellow  creature  prescribes  a  certain  course  for 
you  to  pursue,  to  secure  a  desirable  object,  it  is  your 


AVILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  129 

right  and  your  duty  to  ask  why  he  prescribes  that  and 
not  another,  and  what  tendency  those  means  have  to 
that  end.      It  is  your  right  and  duty,  because  there  are 
certain  established  laws  of  nature,  according  to  which 
all  things  act  and  all  causes  operate,  and  no  man  can 
control  these  causes.      Every  substance   has  its  fixed 
qualities,  whereby  it   acts  in  a  particular    manner  on 
other  substances,  and  every  man  may  be  equally  ac- 
quainted with  them.      Consequently,  when  a  man  tells 
you  that  certain  operations  will  produce  certain  results, 
you  have  a  right  to  hesitate  and  to  inquire  whether 
it  be   in   accordance   w4th  the  known  laws  of  nature, 
and  the  known  powers  and  qualities  of  the  substances 
concerned.       The    only    case    where    you    may    prop- 
erly decline  such  inquiry,  is  when,   for  want  of  pre- 
vious research,  or  on  account  of  present  feebleness  of 
body  or  mind,  and  the  pressing  necessity  of  immediaU 
action,  you  either  act  yourself  in  blindness,  or  entrust 
your   case   to    another,   in   whose    skill   or   ability  you 
confide    rather   than  jeopard   a  longer  continuance   of 
inaction.      Yet   the    exception   proves   the   rule.      But 
when  it  is  God  that  prescribes,  the  case  is  altogether 
different.     Man  is  the  subject  of  nature  ;  but  God  is 
nature's  legislator;   and  the  laws  which  he  gave  to  her, 
he  can  repeal,  or  suspend,  or  modify,  at  his  pleasure. 
The  promise  of  God  connects    cause    and  effect  more 
indissolubly   than   any   law   of  nature   can.     God  has 
suspended  the  latter ;  the  former  never.     If  that  which 
he  commands  us  to  make  use  of  as  a  means,  has  no 
natural  tendency  to   secure  the  end,  yet   his  omnipo- 
tence can  give  it  such  a  tendency.      If  a  vian  should 


130  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

tell  you  that  you  may  take  fire  into  your  bosom  and  not 
be  burned,  you  are  not  to  believe  him,  nor  venture  on 
the  experiment ;  for  it  is  a  known  quality  of  fire  to 
burn.  But  if  God  tells  you  the  same,  you  may  fear- 
lessly make  the  experiment ;  because  he  who  gives  you 
the  assurance,  gave  to  fire  its  consuming  quality,  and 
to  make  his  word  good,  can  temporarily  withdraw  this 
destructive  quality.  Let  this  distinction  be  apprehend- 
ed. If,  for  instance,  a  man  speaking  in  his  own  name, 
and  at  his  own  suggestion,  had  said  to  Naaman,  the 
Syrian,  "  Wash,  and  thou  shalt  be  clean,"  his  refusing 
had  been  reasonable ;  but  the  prophet  who  spake  thus  to 
him  was  an  authorized  ambassador  of  God,  speaking  as 
he  was  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  Thus  the  direction 
came  from  a  Being,  who  is  able  to  heal  by  one  set  of 
means  as  well  as  another,  and  as  easily  without  means, 
or  contrary  to  means,  as  with  them.  Apply  this  great 
principle  to  the  means  and  institutions  of  the  Gospel. 
You  say  they  are  not  naturally  adapted  to  produce  the 
results  for  which  they  were  appointed.  The  answer 
is, — no  matter  whether  they  are  or  not.  The  appoint- 
ment of  God  gives  them  all  the  adaptation  that  any 
law  of  nature  could.  They  must  accomplish  the  prom- 
ised effect,  because  He,  under  whose  control  all  causes 
are,  says  that  they  shall.  Ask  you,  of  what  use  is 
the  baptismal  application  of  water  to  the  body  1  The 
answer  is, — of  no  use  by  virtue  of  any  law  of  nature, 
but  of  much  use  by  virtue  of  its  divine  appointment. 
Ask  you,  of  what  use  is  the  solemn  stated  partaking  of 
bread  and  wine  in  remembrance  of  Jesus  Christ  1  The 
answer  is,  He  that  can  connect  a  blessing  with  the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D,  131 

right  partaking  of  it,  and  has  enjoined  it  upon  us,  does 
bless  it  to  us.  Ask  you,  what  pre-eminence  has  the 
hearing  of  a  discourse  in  the  pubhc  assembly,  over  even 
a  better  one  read  in  private  1  The  answer  is, — it  may 
have  none  naturally,  but  God  has  given  it  a  pre-emi- 
nence ;  "  For  after  that,  in  the  wisdom  of  God,  the 
world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God,  it  pleased  God  by  the 
foolishness  of  preaching  to  save  them  that  believe." 
Say  you,  that  ordinances,  and  doctrines,  and  external 
forms,  are  of  no  avail  1  Grant  it,  if  men  be  their 
author  ;  but  if  they  come  from  God,  they  possess  the 
efficacy  of  the  most  active  causes. 


DIVINITY    OF    CHRIST. 

There  is  in  Revelations  i,  5,  6,  the  highest  ascription 
that  can  be  made  to  any  being,  of  eternal  glory  and 
everlasting  dominion  ;  and  Jesus  Christ  is  the  object  of 
it.  Would  you  not  suppose,  before  instituting  any 
inquiry  into  the  dignity  of  the  being  to  whom  this 
tribute  is  rendered,  that  he  was  considered  by  the 
person  rendering  it,  as  really  and  essentially  divine  1 
If  John  had  considered  Jesus  as  a  mere  creature,  would 
he  have  rendered  unto  him  glory  and  dominion  ever- 
lasting 1  What  more  could  he  render  to  the  Creator  1 
— to  Jehovah?     In  what  language  would  he  express 


132  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

the  supremacy  of  the  Father  1  In  what  loftier  terms 
could  he  do  him  homage,  than  those  which  he  had 
already  employed  in  paying  his  adorations  to  the  Son  1 
He  had  none — he  wanted  none.  He  had  before  told 
us  in  his  gospel,  that  it  was  right  to  "  honor  the  Son, 
even  as  we  honor  the  Father." 

A  celebrated  English  Unitarian  has  had  the  bold- 
ness to  say,  that  since  Christ  rose  from  the  dead,  and 
left  the  world,  we  know  neither  where  he  is,  nor  how 
he  is  employed.  He  may  not  know.  But  we  know 
where  our  risen  Saviour  is,  and  we  know  what  he  is 
doing.  He  is  in  heaven,  whither  he  passed,  when  he 
had,  by  himself,  purged  our  sins,  and  set  down  on  the 
right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high.  Scriptures  almost 
innumerable  testify  this.  Where  the  glorious  company 
of  angels  are,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect 
rejoice,  and  God,  the  judge  of  all,  specially  manifests 
himself ;  there  too,  is  Jesus,  the  Mediator  of  the  new 
Covenant,  with  the  blood  of  sprinkling,  the  memorial 
of  his  sacrifice.  There  he  reigns  ;  for  him  hath  God 
highly  exalted  to  be  a  prince  as  well  as  a  Saviour. 
There  he  appears  in  the  presence  of  God  for  us. 
Thither  the  forerunner  hath  for  us  entered.  There  he 
ever  liveth  to  make  intercession  for  us.  If  any  man 
pin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  righteous.  He  said  to  his  disciples,  "  it  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away  ;  I  go  to  prepare  a 
place  for  you  ;  and  whither  1  go,  ye  know,  and  the 
way  ye  know."  Do  we  not  then  know  where  Christ  is, 
and  how  he  is  employed  1  Having  raised  him  from 
the  dead,  the  Father  set  him  at  his  own  right  hand  in 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  133 

heavenly  places — in  the  post  of  highest  honor,  author- 
ity and  dignity,  as  the  expression  denotes. 

At  the  gracious  invitation,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye 
that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest,"  the  despairing  sinner,  listening  to  every  voice, 
and  eagerly  catching  at  every  accent  of  mercy,  lifts  his 
streaming  eyes  almost  with  hope,  anxious  to  know  who 
is  the  personage  that  so  earnestly  and  so  affectionately 
gives  the  kind  invitation.  He  looks,  and  behold !  the 
crucified  man  Christ  Jesus.  The  vision  of  his  hopes  is 
fled ;  he  fastens  his  eyes  on  the  earth,  and  in  the  agony 
of  blasted  expectation,  he  exclaims,  "  Come  to  thee, 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  !  Thou,  that  wast  born  in  a  stable, 
and  cradled  in  a  manger  ;  who  wast  once  a  helpless 
infant,  and  afterwards  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief,  canst  thou  relieve  my  troubled  conscience  1 
Thou,  that  hadst  not  even  where  to  lay  thy  head,  canst 
thou  give  rest  to  my  laboring  spirit  1  Thou,  that  wast 
forsaken  of  thy  God,  canst  thou  restore  me  to  the  favor 
of  my  offended  Maker  1  Thou,  that  didst  die  the  ac- 
cursed death,  canst  thou  give  life  to  my  dying  soul  ?" 
The  voice  is  again  heard ;  the  invitation  is  again 
repeated,  *'  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  1  will  give  you  rest."  The  sinner 
again  lifts  his  eyes,  and  lo,  the  dazzling  splendors  of  a 
risen  God  !  He  that  was  once  the  babe  of  Bethlehem, 
now  the  ascended  Lord  and  Saviour ;  an  helpless  infant 
once,  now  the  Omnipotent  God;  he  that  once  conde- 
scended to  become  poor  for  our  sakes,  now  infinitely 
rich  ;  he  that  was  once  adjudged  and  condemned  by 

wicked  men,  now  set  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 

12 


134  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

on  high,  to  be  the  judge  of  men  and  angels ;  and  he 
that  once  died  on  the  cross,  now  the  dispenser  of  life  to 
happy  millions."  Now  the  sinner,  with  tears  of  holy 
penitence  flowing  from  his  eyes,  and  a  blessed  hope 
sustaining  his  soul,  exclaims.  Great  is  the  mystery  of 
godliness, — God  manifest  in  the  flesh.  Jesus  Christ 
was  indeed  a  man,  but  he  was  a  God  too;  and  every 
awakened  and  convinced  sinner  feels  that  his  Saviour 
must  be  a  God. 

What  if  the  world  had  been  lost !  Who  would  have 
missed  it !  Celestial  spirits  would  have  praised  the  jus- 
tice that  condemned  it.  But  the  conception  of  redeem- 
ing mercy  was  infinitely  above  them.  A  lost  world 
saved  !  'Tis  a  thought  high  as  heaven  !  A  rebel  world 
restored  !  'Tis  deep  as  hell !  A  God  was  as  necessary 
to  the  contrivance  as  to  the  execution  of  the  plan  of 
redemption.  To  the  wonder  of  creation,  God  came  to 
consummate  it.  It  is  well  that  the  bliss  of  the  redeem- 
ed will  never  end  ;  for  in  this  one  mystery  of  redemp- 
tion, there  is  food  enough  to  serve  all  heaven  eternally. 

There  is  nothing  so  great,  nothing  so  affecting  in 
man's  redemption,  nothing  which  an  angel  would  desire 
to  look  into,  if  a  creature  (I  care  not  how  vast  his 
intellect,  how  bright  his  seraphic  robe,  how  little  short 
of  omniscience  his  knowledge,  how  near  almightiness 
his  power,)  could  have  girded  himself  for  the  work,  and 
become  the  captain  of  salvation  to  us.  The  affecting 
thought  is,  that  "  the  word  was  made  flesh." 


WILLIAM    NEVms,    D.  D.  135 


LOVE    OF    CHRIST. 

If  the  Son  of  God  had  only  sent  us  word  by  some 
spiritual  messenger  that  he  was  our  friend  and  loved 
us,  there  would  have  been  much  to  admire  in  that.  If 
he  had  only  given  us  assurance  that  he  would  use  his 
influence  with  the  Father  in  our  behalf ;  that  he  would 
mediate  for  us  by  intercession ;  that  would  have  been 
worthy  of  heartfelt  gratitude.  If  he  had  just  touched 
upon  our  world  in  some  excursion  of  providence,  and 
smiled  upon  it,  and  given  it  his  blessing,  how  should 
the  hearts  of  men  have  leaped  for  joy.  If  for  years, 
he  had  only  lived  with  us,  and  instructed  us,  and 
comforted  us,  and  then  gone  up  in  glory  through  the 
heavens,  who  could  have  withstood  such  tenderness 
and  love  ]  But  he  did  far  more  than  all  this.  He  did 
not  merely  send,  he  came  ;  he  did  not  merely  mediate 
by  intercession,  he  mediated  by  sacrifice — self-sacrifice ; 
he  not  only  lived  for  us,  he  died  for  us  ;  he  died  not  a 
natural,  but  a  violent  death  ;  the  death  of  a  slave  ;  the 
accursed  death  ;  a  death  preceded  by  scourging,  mock- 
ing, and  spitting.  And  as  he  went  up  the  hill  of  Cal- 
vary, oppressed  with  his  cross,  his  majestic  brow  was 
lacerated  with  the  crown  of  thorns,  and  down  his 
heavenly  face  ran  the  trickling  blood  ;  and  they  nailed 
his  hands  and  his  feet  roughly  and  cruelly  to  the  tree. 
They!  Who?  Why,  men.  He  died  6?/ them /or  whom 
he  died.  There  was  no  alleviation  of  his  dying  agony. 
No  friend  ministered  to  hiin  ;  no  sympathy  was  felt  for 


136  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

him  in  all  the  assembled  multitude  of  his  murderers. 
'Twas  all  contempt  and  hatred.  No  voice  was  heard, 
but  the  voice  of  execration  and  blasphemy,  and  hh- 
voice  in  prayer  for  his  murderers.  And  the  light  and 
smile  of  his  Father's  face  were  not  with  him.  Oh,  it 
was  such  a  death,  that  when  his  divinely  supported 
soul  foresaw  it,  that  soul,  though  thus  strengthened, 
shrunk  back  in  horror,  and  he  prayed  with  such  intense 
agony,  that  he  sweat,  as  it  were,  great  drops  of  blood : 
"  Oh,  spare  me  this.  Father,  if  it  be  possible.  Canst 
thou  not,  infinite  and  almighty  Father  1" 

I  never  feel  so  dissatisfied  with  myself,  as  when  the 
love  of  Christ  is  my  theme  ;  thoughts  are  so  low,  and 
language  is  so  cold. 

We  want  higher  language,  bolder  thoughts,  and 
larger  hearts  to  come  up  to  the  love  of  Christ.  "  How 
low,  how  vain  our  mortal  airs,  when  Gabriel's  nobler 
harp  despairs."  There  are  no  strings  sweet  enough  to 
tell  its  tenderness,  nor  loud  enough  to  tell  its  strength. 
To  all  our  thoughts  the  height  is  inaccessible,  the 
depth  unfathomable,  the  breadth  immeasurable. 

Shall  we  give  to  the  Saviour  in  return  for  his  love, 
and  in  view  of  his  toils,  his  tears  and  his  blood,  less 
than  our  hearts — our  whole  hearts  ?  No  other  gift  is 
worthy  of  us  or  acceptable  to  him.  It  is  not  the  plain- 
tive hymn  expressive  of  his  sorrows,  nor  the  loud 
anthem  to  his  name,  nor  holiday  show  of  joy  at  his 
birth,  which  he  delights  in.  The  music  of  a  grateful, 
contrite,  and  affectionate  heart  is  what  pleases  him. 
Compared  to  this,  the  music  of  the  spheres  is  dull  and 
uninteresting  to  his  holy  ear. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  137 

In  heaven,  Parnassus  may  be  forgotten — Calvary, 
never;  Eden  may  fade  from  all  memories — Gethsem- 
ane,  from  none. 


ATONEMENT. 

From  the  dreadful  agony  of  Christ  in  the  garden, 
may  be  drawn  an  argument  for  the  doctrine  of  the 
atonement,  which  cannot  be  gainsaid,  but  by  the  bold 
avowal  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  weak  and  pusillanimous 
man.  If  he  was  not  bearing  the  weight  of  the  punish- 
ment of  the  sins  of  the  world,  it  was  the  fear  of  death 
alone  that  troubled  him  ;  and  in  that  case,  he  had  not 
so  much  fortitude  as  many  of  his  own  disciples.  Not 
only  did  he  not  suffer  and  die  like  a  God,  but  he  did 
not  even  suffer  like  a  good  and  holy  man  in  favor 
with  God.  He  must  have  been  bruised  for  our  ini- 
quities.    How  can  this  conclusion  be  evaded  1 

There  is  but  one  safe  character ;  even  that  of  holiness. 

So  there  is  but  one  safe  condition:  that  is  in  Christ. 

There  is  in  the  universe  but  one  spot,  which  it  is  safe 

for  a  sinner  to  occupy.     On  every  other  spot  the  wrath 

of  God  is  liable  to  descend   and   destroy  him.     That 

spot  is  the  foot  of  the  cross  of  Christ.      That  is  a  place 

of  safety ;  because  the  wrath  of  God  has  already  come 

down   and  spent   itself.     There,    there,   only  there,   is 

safety  for  sinners.     Tliis  is  it,  "Wherein  he  hath  made 

12* 


138  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

US  accepted  in  the  Beloved,  in  whom  we  have  redemp- 
tion through  his  blood." 

The  Balm  of  Gilead  is  the  only  article  in  our  materia 
medica.  We  prescribe  that  for  every  thing.  "  The 
blood  of  Christ  doth  still  remain  sufficient  and  alone." 

Behold,  I  show  you  a  mystery.  The  robes  of  the 
redeemed  are  washed  and  made  white  in  blood.  With- 
out shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission  and  no  sanc- 
tification.  But  what  blood  had  the  wondrous  efficacy  1 
Not  the  blood  of  bulls  and  goats,  but  of  the  Son  of 
God.     Acts  XX,  28. 

There  is  a  mystery  in  Redemption,  from  which  I 
know  not  if  any  finite  mind  shall  ever  return  and  be 
able  to  say,  "  I  have  found  and  have  fathomed  it." 

The  atonement  is  not  merely  a  testimony  to  the 
severity  of  God's  government,  but  also  to  the  evil  of 
sin.  And  it  testifies  not  only  to  the  reality,  but  to  the 
magnitude  of  the  evil,  that  required  so  great  a  remedy. 
How  deep  and  foul  the  stain,  which  no  tears  could 
wash  out,  nor  blood,  save  that  of  Christ.  What  malig- 
nity and  mischief  must  there  not  be  in  that  for  which 
nothing  short  of  the  extremest  sufferings  of  the  Son  of 
God  could  satisfy.  How  dreadful  that  penalty,  under 
which  that  most  powerful  and  illustrious  personage 
writhed  and  bowed,  and  fell  a  victim  to  death.  How 
will  a  feeble  creature  like  one  of  us  be  able  to  sustain 
it !  He  don't  sustain  it.  See,  he  sinks  down,  down, 
for  ever  and  for  ever.  The  testimony  which  the  atone- 
ment bears  to  the  evil  of  sin,  it  bears  to  the  evil  of  all 
sin  in  all  men. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  139 

The  Bible  does  not  say,  that  without  the  pouring 
forth  of  prayers  and  a  reformation  of  life,  we  could  not 
be  forgiven.  Nor  does  it  say  that  without  the  shedding 
of  tears,  there  could  be  no  pardon  ;  but  "  without  the 
shedding  of  blood  there  is  no  remission." 

The  most  affecting  of  all  scenes,  the  most  extraordi- 
nary of  all  events,  the  mightiest  of  all  transactions,  was 
Christ's  undertaking  for  sinners.  In  comparison  with 
this,  every  transaction  recorded  in  the  history  of  time, 
is  a  trifle, — yea,  it  is  as  nothing. 

In  regard  to  the  extent  of  the  atonement,  I  would  just 
say,  that  it  is  so  extensive,  that  none  will  ever  be  lost 
by  reason  of  any  deficiency  in  it.  It  is  as  extensive  as  it 
need  be  ;  so  extensive,  that  on  the  ground  of  it,  salva- 
tion is  sincerely  and  freely  offered  to  all ;  so  extensive, 
that  if  all  should  accept  the  offer,  all  would  be  saved. 
Is  not  this  extensive  enough  1  It  is  limited  only  in 
this  sense,  that  it  was  made  with  a  special  reference  to 
those  who  will  be  ultimately  saved  by  it.  The  foun- 
dation is  broad  enough  to  receive  every  soul — all  the 
souls  of  all  men.  And  all  the  sins  of  all  these  souls, 
though  they  be  very  many  and  very  great,  Christ's 
blood  has  still  efficacy  to  cleanse  away.  Therefore,  let 
each  one  come  to  Christ,  and  secure  to  himself  an 
interest  in  the  atonement.  Let  this  be  the  first  anxiety 
— the  first  work.  What  should  precede  it  in  order  of 
time  1     Doth  any  thing  equal  it  in  point  of  importance'? 


140  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


CHRIST'S    RESURRECTION. 

Is  it  a  thing  incredible  that  God  should  raise  the 
Saviour,  because,  forsooth,  the  philosophy  of  that  brave 
little  being  that  lives  in  a  mud  cottage,  a  house  of  clay, 
has  objections  to  offer  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  1 
Must  heaven  suspend  the  everlasting  song  to  the 
Lamb,  until  man  is  convinced  that  he  is  worthy  of 
these  honors  1 


CHARACTER    OF    CHRIST. 

The  history  of  our  Saviour,  throughout  so  luminous 
and  interesting,  increases  in  glory  as  it  draws  to  its 
termination.  The  brightest  page  of  his  memoir  is  the 
last.  And  from  the  cross,  where  it  was  intended  his 
life  should  go  out  in  infamy,  the  moral  glory  of  his 
character  shines  forth  in  its  fullest  effulgence.  The 
things  that  were  most  remarkable  on  that  day,  were 
not  the  sun's  withholding  his  light,  nor  the  earth's 
trembling,  nor  the  grave's  disinterring  its  dead.  There 
was  a  moral  display  more  remarkable  still,  in  the  de- 
portment and  language  of  the  dignified  sufferer.  Who 
could  witness  it  without  saying,  "  Truly  this  was  the 
Sonof  Godr' 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  141 

Ah,  the  poor  and  the  wretched  know  not  what  a 
friend  they  would  find  in  Jesus,  if  they  should  betake 
themselves  to  him,  else  they  would  not  delay  as 
they  do. 

When  Jesus  only  tvept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  they 
said,  "  Behold  how  he  loved  him."  With  how  much 
more  force  may  we,  who  see  his  agony  in  the  garden 
and  his  sufferings  on  the  cross,  exclaim.  Behold  how 
he  loved  us,  even  unto  death ! 


WHAT    A    SAVIOUR! 

What  Christian  has  not  sometimes  given  expression 
to  the  feelings  of  his  heart  in  some  such  language  as 
this,  "What  a  Saviour  !"  That  there  should  be  to  us, 
lost  and  ruined  sinners,  any  Saviour,  is  marvellovis 
mercy — is  worthy  of  our  highest  admiration.  But  that 
there  should  be  to  us  such  a  Saviour,  is  still  more  aston- 
ishing. I  have  thought  that  we  might  have  had  a 
Saviour,  who  should  have  been  able  to  save  us,  and 
should  have  actually  saved  many,  and  yet  not  been 
such  a  Saviour  as  him  we  have.  Less  tender,  less  con- 
descending, less  forbearing,  I  have  thought  he  might 
have  been,  and  yet  have  been  a  Saviour.  Perhaps  I 
have  thought  wrong.  But  certainly  there  is  in  the 
character  of  the  blessed  Jesus,  much  to  draw  forth  the 
exclamation,  "What  a  Saviour  !" 


142  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

It  seems  as  if  Jesus  had  said  more  kind  things,  and 
done  more  kind  acts,  than  were  absolutely  necessary  to 
have  been  said  and  done  by  him.  Need  he  have  made 
that  apology  for  his  disciples — who  could  sleep  when 
he  was  in  his  agony — "  the  spirit  indeed  is  willing,  but 
the  flesh  is  weak?"  I  wonder  how  they  could  have 
slept  in  such  an  hour ;  but  I  wonder  more,  at  the 
apology  their  Master  made  for  them.  Need  he  have 
uttered  that  prayer  on  the  cross,  "  Father  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do?"  We  don't  expect 
such  things  from  the  innocent,  when  dying  by  the  hand 
of  violence.  If  he  had  maintained  silence  during  these 
hours  of  inconceivable  anguish,  we  should  have  been 
satisfied.  But  oh  !  think  of  his  forgetting  himself,  and 
when  they  were  deriding  and  in  every  way  insulting 
him,  hear  him  meekly  addressing  his  Father  on  their 
behalf,  asking  him  to  forgive  them,  and  pleading  for 
them  that  they  knew  not  what  they  did.  It  was  not 
necessary  that  he  should  have  paid  any  visible  attention 
to  the  supplication  of  the  thief.  It  could  not  have  been 
expected  of  him.  But  that  he  should  have  turned  his 
head  and  looked  such  forgiveness  and  love,  while  he 
said,  "  This  day,  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  paradise," 
is  a  strange  mystery  of  love. 

"What  a  Saviour  !"  How  wonderfully  constituted! 
He  was  God,  as  it  was  necessary  he  should  be,  and  yet 
not  merely  God,  but  man  too.  A  Saviour  with  two 
natures,  one  reaching  up  to  God,  the  other  down  to  us. 
How  wonderful  that  he  should  not  only  have  taken  our 
nature,  but  come  down  to  our  condition,  and  surrounded 
himself  with   our   circumstances, — become   subject   to 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  143 

such  temptations  as  we  are  subject  to  :  Oh,  "What  a 
Saviour  ! "  Why,  he  knows  from  experience,  what  pain 
is ;  he  has  had  the  trials  I  have  ;  he  has  been  through 
this  vale  of  tears  ;  he  knows  how  I  am  tried  ;  he  re- 
members how  he  was  tried.  If  he  never  smiled,  yet 
he  wept — even  over  the  very  city  and  people  whose  soil 
and  hands  were  about  to  be  stained  with  his  blood. 

I  wonder  I  love  him  so  little  ;  I  wonder  he  is  not 
more  precious  to  me  ;  I  wonder  any  should  be  offend- 
ed in  him.  How  can  he  appear  a  root  out  of  a  dry 
ground  !     Why  don't  all  see  his  form  and  comeliness  ] 


«i    WOULD    SEE    JESUS." 

Because  he  is  an  infinitely  lovely  and  an  inexpressi-" 
bly  admirable  object.  All  divine  and  human  excel- 
lences meet  and  are  beautifully  blended  in  him.  All 
that  is  amiable  and  all  that  is  august  unite  in  him. 
Who  would  not  desire  to  behold  such  an  object  1 

Because  the  divine  character  shines  forth  most  con*- 
spicuously  in  him.  He  is  "the  brightness  of  the 
Father's  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  person." 
"  No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time ;  the  only  begotten 
Son,  which  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath 
declared  him."  And  "he  that  hath  seen  the  Son,  hath 
seen  the  Father."  For  God,  who  commanded  the  light 
to  shine  out  of  darkness,  hath  shined  in  our  hearts,  to 


144  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

give  the  light  of  the  knowledge  to  the  glory  of  God  in 
the  face  of  Jesus  Christ."  Even  in  heaven,  "this  Jeho- 
vah is  the  light  thereof." 

Because  a  sight  of  him,  especially  a  sight  of  him  on 
the  cross,  reveals  our  sinfuliiess  and  guilt,  and  is  calcu- 
lated to  produce  conviction.  For,  why  was  he  there  t 
What  made  his  agony  and  death  necessary?  What 
but  our  sins  was  it  that  oppressed  his  soul  and  nailed 
his  body  to  the  tree  1  Who  can  understandingly  con- 
template the  cross  of  Christ,  and  not  feel  that  he  is  a 
sinner  1  Nor  does  it  reveal  merely  the  fact  of  our  sin- 
fulness, but  the  evil  of  it  also,  as  both  odious  and 
mischievous.  For  had  it  not  been  for  the  extreme 
malignity  of  sin,  an  atonement  of  such  value  would  not 
have  been  necessary,  a  victim  of  such  dignity  would 
not  have  been  required,  nor  such  an  amount  of  suffering 
exacted  of  him.  He,  for  whom  God's  only  begotten 
Son  died,  must  not  only  be  a  sinner,  but  a  great  sinner, 
a  sinner  of  great  unworthiness  ;  and  this  is  a  necessary 
part  of  conviction.  It  is  not  enough  that  we  be  con- 
vinced we  are  sinners.  We  must  also  feel  that  we  are 
great  sinners,  and  that  sin  is  a  great  evil.  When  we 
take  this  view  of  a  crucified  Saviour,  then  we  see  that 
there  is  no  exaggeration  in  the  language,  which  repre- 
sents us  as  having  pierced  him.  And  contemplating  him 
as  pierced  by  and  for  our  sins,  repentance  follows  ;  as  it 
is  written,  "  They  shall  look  on  him  whom  they  have 
pierced  and  mourn."  And  repentance  is  never  so  deep 
and  bitter  as  when  a  sight  of  Christ  crucified  excites 
it.  "  They  shall  be  in  bitterness  for  him,  as  one  that  is 
in  bitterness  for  a  firstborn."     Hence, 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  P.  145 

We  should  desire  to  see  Jesus  that  we  may  repent; 
and  that  we  may  be  forgiven  and  saved  ;  for  what, 
says  he  1  "  Look  vmto  me,  and  be  ye  saved."  "  Behold 
the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world."  To  look  to  Christ,  is  to  believe  on  him  and 
confide  in  him.  With  this  confidence,  salvation  is 
always  connected.  What  a  wonderful  scheme  is  this  ! 
That  the  same  object,  a  sight  of  which,  produces  con- 
viction, produces  repentance  also,  and  procures  pardon. 
We  look,  and  see  ourselves  sinners ;  we  look,  and 
mourn  ;  we  look,  and  are  saved. 

A  view  of  Christ  is  transforming  and  sanctifying ; 
"  for  we  all  beholding  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory  to 
glory,  as  by  the  Sphit  of  the  Lord."  "  God  forbid,  that  I 
should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
by  whom  the  world  is  crucified  unto  me,  and  I  unto  the 
world." 

We  see  in  Christ  the  example  after  which  we  are 
required  to  walk.  "  For  if  any  man  have  not  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his."  "  Let  this  mind  be  in 
you,  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus."  A  Christian  is 
nothing  else  but  a  follower  or  imitator  of  Christ.  He 
exemplified  all  that  we  are  required  to  be,  or  do,  or 
suffer.  What  ought  to  be  our  deportment  towards  God 
and  towards  men — how  we  ought  to  treat  friends  and 
enemies — bear  injuries  and  requite  favors — what  ought 
to  be  the  character,  the  aim,  the  efforts,  and  the  sac- 
rifices of  our  benevolence,  are  matters  on  which  we 
get  full  information  by  looking  to  Jesus,  as  the  perfect 

model. 

13 


146  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Looking  to  him,  you  get  ability  to  conform  to  his 
example,  precepts,  and  image  ;  you  get  patience  and 
strength  to  run  the  race  set  before  you ;  you  are  able, 
through  him  strengthening  you,  to  do  all  things. 

Other  reasons  might  still  be  added.  Looking  to 
Jesus,  you  see  the  most  amazing  exhibition  of  love, — 
you  see  a  silent  declaration  of  God's  imwillingness  that 
sinners  should  perish,  when,  for  the  sake  of  sparing 
them,  he  spared  not  his  own  Son. 

If  you  have  seen,  look  again,  look  continually,  never 
lose  sight  of  him ;  do  not  merely  glance  your  eye  on 
him,  but  fix  your  gaze  upon  him.  A  transient  glimpse 
of  Christ  will  give  a  gleam  of  hope  and  peace  ;  for 
abiding  confidence  and  consolation,  we  must  habitually 
look  upon  him.  By  an  hour's  entrance  to  him,  you 
cannot  get  light  and  warmth  to  last  you  a  day.  We 
must  habitually  look  upon  him.  All  your  darkness, 
doubts,  and  discomforts,  arise  from  losing  sight  of 
Christ.  Perhaps  you  lose  sight  of  him  in  looking  too 
much  to  yourself.  That  is  not  the  quarter,  whence 
help  is  to  come.     Always  say,  "  I  would  see  Jesus." 


WILLIAM  NEVINS,  D.  n.  147 


"HE  IS  ABLE  TO  SAVE  TO  THE 
UTTERMOST." 

To  the  uttermost,  in  respect  to  the  number  of  applicants. 
It  is  no  matter  how  many  come  to  him,  he  is  able  to 
save  them  all.  Should  all  mankind  agree  to  come, 
(blessed  agreement !)  or  were  the  population  of  the 
earth  many  times  multiplied,  and  they  all  should  apply, 
he  would  save  that  countless  company  with  the  same 
ease  as  he  can  a  single  individual.  His  righteousness 
is  capable  of  being  applied  to  any  number.  The  effi- 
cacy of  his  atonement  can,  not  only  not  be  exhausted, 
but  is  incapable  of  diminution.  The  care  of  such  a 
multitude,  as  has  been  just  supposed  to  come  to  him, 
would  not  distract  him ;  and  the  weight  of  such  a 
charge  as  the  salvation  of  the  whole  would  not  weary 
him.  There  would  be  no  danger  of  any  one  being 
overlooked,  or  unheard,  or  unprotected ;  for  his  eye,  and 
ear,  and  arm,  are  everywhere.  No  matter  how  long 
this  world  may  last,  and  how  great  a  multitude  every 
generation  of  it  may  contribute  to  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ;  when  the  last  invitation  shall  have  been  sent 
forth,  and  the  last  guest  shall  have  entered  in,  still 
there  will  be  room. 

To  the  uttermost,  in  respect  of  the  character  of  the 
applicants.  It  is  no  matter  how  great  the  guilt,  how 
many  and  black  the  crimes,  and  how  deep  the  depravity 
of  anyone  ;  Christ  can  save  him  as  easily  as  if  his  guilt 
were  less,  and  his  crimes  fewer  in  number  and  lighter 


148  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

in  color ;  for  such  virtue  has  his  blood,  that  ^yhatever 
stain  it  touches,  it  instantaneously  removes.  Let  all 
hear  it :  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sin;"  i.e.,  from  sin  of  every  kind,  of  every  degree,  of 
every  aggravation.  It  makes  no  difference  what  species 
of  sins  you  may  have  been  distinguished  for, — whether 
they  have  been  sins  of  impiety,  or  injustice,  or  intem- 
perance, or  inhumanity  ;  though  you  should  have  dis- 
regarded God,  rejected  his  Son,  and  grieved  his  Spirit, 
as  well  as  injured  your  fellow  creatures,  and  abused 
your  own  soul  and  body :  nor  does  it  matter  under 
what  aggravations  you  have  sinned,  what  light  you 
have  shut  your  eyes  vipon,  what  motives  you  have 
resisted,  and  what  privileges  and  means  you  have 
abused ;  nor  for  how  many  years  you  have  persisted 
in  sin  and  hardened  yourself  against  God  ;  though  you 
should  have  grown  gray  in  iniquity,  and  your  sins  have 
brought  you  almost  to  the  grave, — provided  only  that 
you  will  come  to  God  by  Christ  Jesus.  These  things 
will  indeed  mightily  aggravate  and  enhance  your  con- 
demnation, if  you  remain  unbelieving ;  but  if  you 
apply  to  Christ,  they  shall  be  no  obstacles  in  the  way 
of  your  being  saved  by  him.  He  is  able  to  save  the 
greatest  sinners,  and  as  willing  to  save  them  as  any 
others  ;  so  that  there  is  nothing  more  unscriptural  and 
antievangelical,  than  to  give  as  a  reason  for  not  going 
to  Christ,  that  yovir  sins  are  very  many  and  very  great. 
Admit  that  they  are  mighty  as  mountains,  numerous 
as  the  stars,  and  red  as  scarlet,  do  they  transcend  the 
virtue  of  his  blood  and  the  efficacy  of  his  Spirit  *?  Has 
the  world  bound  you  by  such  a  chain,  that  the  revealed 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  149 

loveliness  of  Jesus  Christ  cannot  break  the  spell?  Has 
Satan  riveted  his  chains  so  fast  upon  you  that  tlie  Re- 
deemer's almighty  arm  cannot  tear  them  off?  Can  you 
say  of  that  love,  that  brought  him  down  and  bore  him 
through,  that  hitherto  it  goes,  but  no  further,  and  that 
you  are  beyond  its  utmost  reach  1  What  if  your  case  be 
a  peculiar  one,  (though  there  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  it  is,  and  you  think  so,  only  because  you  are  not 
acquainted  with  other  cases,  and  every  convinced  sinner 
thinks  he  has  reason  to  regard  his  case  as  peculiar,) 
what  if  it  be  the  very  worst  case  that  w^as  ever  laid 
before  the  Saviour,  according  to  the  principles  of  the 
Gospel,  it  is  altogether  immaterial.  Is  not  Christ  fully 
equal  to  ill  But  some  one  will  say,  "Is  there  not, 
however,  one  kind  of  sin  that  is  unpardonable,  and  one 
description  of  transgressors,  for  whom  there  remaineth 
no  sacrifice  1  What  if  1  have  the  guilt  of  that  sin  on 
my  soul  1  Is  not  here  an  exception  1  Can  Christ  do 
any  thing  for  me,  if  this  be  my  case  1  And  I  know  not 
but  it  is?"  We  say  that  the  fact  of  your  asking  such 
questions  and  indulging  such  thoughts,  is  proof  suffi- 
cient that  you  have  not  committed  that  sin.  And  we 
say  furthermore,  tliat  if  the  blasphemer  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  were  to  come  to  God  through  Christ,  Christ 
would  be  competent  to  save  him  :  but  this  supposition 
can  never  become  matter  of  fact ;  for  the  sin  in  ques- 
tion, involves  a  malignant  and  determined  rejection  of 
Christ.  So  that  to  ask  if  such  a  person  can  be  saved, 
is  the  same  as  to  ask  if  he  can  be  saved  who  obsti- 
nately   perseveres    in    refusing    the    only    method    and 

means  of  salvation.     It  is  the  same  as  to  ask  whether 

13* 


150  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

the  finally   impenitent  can  be  saved.     Of  course  he 
cannot.     But  the  reason  after  all  is,  that  he  will  not. 

To  the  uttermost.  Consider  it  as  having  reference  to 
the  perfection  of  salvation.  He  can  save  completely. 
He  can  do  all  that  is  necessary  to  be  done.  He  is  able 
to  carry  on  and  consummate  the  work  he  commences. 
He  does  not  perform  one  part  of  it,  and  leave  the  rest 
to  be  performed  by  others,  or  to  be  left  unperformed. 
Whenever  he  begins  to  build,  he  shows  himself  able  to 
finish.  He  is  equal  to  the  whole  work.  From  the  love, 
and  the  pollution,  and  the  power  of  sin,  he  can  deliver, 
as  well  as  from  its  guilt.  He  can  sanctify  those  whom 
he  forgives.  There  are  not  only  robes  of  righteousness 
with  him,  but  treasures  of  wisdom,  and  the  influence 
that  purifies.  He  can  remove  every  temptation,  or  if 
it  seem  better  to  him,  give  grace  to  withstand  it.  He 
can  support  under  every  trial — can  relieve  in  every  ex- 
tremity— is  prepared  for  every  emergency — is  able  to 
deliver  from  every  sorrow,  and  to  pluck  from  every  hos- 
tile hand.  For  them  that  come  to  God  by  him  he  reigns, 
for  them  he  pleads.  He  is  all-powerful  as  a  king,  and 
all-prevailing  as  an  intercessor.  All  his  people  are 
taught  of  God.  He  has  said  that  sin  shall  not  have 
dominion  over  them,  and  he  is  able  to  make  it  good. 
He  can,  and  agreeably  to  his  promise  he  will,  shortly 
bruise  Satan  under  their  feet.  O  believer,  whatever 
difiiculties  you  labor  under,  whatever  temptations  ha- 
rass you,  whatever  sins  oppress  you,  whatever  griefs 
afflict  you,  Christ  has  power  to  remove  them  all.  Apply 
to  him.    He  is  able  to  save  to  the  tittermost.    To  them 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   1).  151 

that  believe,  he  is  of  God  made  wisdom,  and  righteous- 
ness, and  sanctification,  and  redemption. 

Finally,  consider  this  language  as  having  respect  to 
duration: — to  the  uttermost;  i.  e.,  for  ever.  He  is  able  to 
save  as  long  as  he  liveth,  and  he  is  "  alive  for  ever 
more."  However  protracted  your  pilgrimage  on  earth, 
and  however  wearisome  and  tedious  the  road  you 
travel,  he  is  able  to  lead  and  defend  you.  Besides,  he 
can  pluck  out  the  sting  of  death,  and  take  away  the 
terror  of  the  grave.  He  has  power  to  keep  securely 
the  spirit  that  is  commended  to  him.  And  while  the 
body  lies  mouldering  in  its  dark  and  dreary  receptacle, 
his  eye  watches  it,  until  "  the  word  of  his  power"  shall 
raise  it.  He  is  able  to  unite  again  the  divorced  parts, 
and  to  introduce  the  complete  persons  of  all  his  redeem- 
ed into  the  place  and  society  which  he  has  prepared  for 
them ;  where,  with  a  hand  that  can  never  tire,  and  from 
a  fulness  that  can  never  be  exhausted,  he  can  and  he 
will  bless  and  continue  to  bless  them,  in  a  way  and  to 
an  extent  beyond  the  power  of  thought  to  conceive. 
Never,  throughout  eternity,  will  his  love  cool,  or  his 
resources  fail.  Nor  shall  there  be  the  sense  of  want, 
or  the  fear  of  change,  or  the  apprehension  of  an  end, 
felt  in  any  bosom  of  all  that  shall  beat  with  ecstasy 
about  his  throne.  "  He  is  able  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most,"— even  with  everlasting  salvation. 


152  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


IMITATION    OF    CHRIST. 

It  is  an  important  inquiry, — Have  Christ's  doctrines 
assimilated  us  to  him  1  Have  we  learned  of  him,  not 
only  that  meekness,  humility,  and  heavenly  minded- 
ness,  are  among  the  characteristic  virtues  of  Christian- 
ity, but  to  be  actually  meek,  and  lowly,  and  heavenly 
minded  1 

The  disciple  must  be,  not  as  his  fellow  disciple,  but 
as  his  Master.  So  far  as  any  character  is  the  standard, 
it  is  his.  To  be  like  him  should  be  our  aim,  and  not 
to  be  like  any  fellow  creature,  except  as  we  may  discern 
the  image  of  Christ  in  him  ;  and  then  it  is  not  so  much 
to  be  like  the  copy,  as  like  the  original.  It  is  painful, 
not  to  say  disgusting,  to  hear  one-  affirm  that  he  would 
be  quite  content  to  be  as  good  as  such  or  such  a 
person.  It  is  making  a  man  the  model,  and  not  the 
Saviour.  He  is  contemplating  and  admiring  derived 
and  imperfect  loveliness,  when  he  ought  to  be  gazing 
on  one  that  is  altogether  and  essentially  lovely. 

If  any  acknowledge  the  general  obligation  to  imitate 
Christ,  how  can  they  escape  from  the  obligation  "to 
go  about  doing  good  to  all  men,  as  they  have  oppor- 
tunity'?" 

No  man  ever  happened  to  be  like  Christ.  None  ever 
accidentally  acquired  his  image.  Such  a  result  proceeds 
from  a  two-fold  design  ;  first,  a  design  on  God's  part, 
granting  the  Spirit  to  work  in  man  ;  and  then  a  design 
on  the  sinner's  part,  to  be  a  follower  of  God. 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,   D.   D.  153 


REJECTION    OF    CHRIST. 

Know  thou,  O  sinner,  that  thou  hadst  better  have  on 
thee  all  the  crimes  of  all  the  sinners  that  have  ever 
lived,  and  better  if  thy  soul  were  dyed  through  and 
through  with  deepest  crimson,  than  that  thou  shouldst 
go  from  this  world,  bearing  the  guilt  of  the  blood  of 
Jesus. 

The  song  of  joy  from  heaven  has  never  been  answer- 
ed by  a  general  shout  of  gratitude  from  earth.  Only 
a  few  faint  voices  from  the  low  places  of  the  earth 
have  responded  to  the  loud  concert  of  angels. 

There  is  in  the  human  heart  one  thing  that  vibrates 
to  the  touch  of  generosity.  Then  when  the  hand  of  God 
strikes  it,  why  does  it  not  vibrate  1  There  is  a  power 
of  being  excited  with  what  is  disinterested  in  kindness 
and  generous  in  affection,  and  God  has  addressed  it  in 
the  exhibition  he  has  made  of  his  Son  as  dying  for 
sinners.  Greater  love  and  more  generous  hath  no  man 
ever  shown  to  man  than  this.  Men  doubt  its  story  ; 
and  marble  is  not  more  cold,  and  unmoved,  and  void 
of  affection.  There  is  hope,  and  God  has  revealed  to 
it  all  tlie  everlasting  glories  of  heaven  ;  yet  tales  of 
oriental  extravagance  produce  as  much  effect.  There 
is  fear  ;  and  God  has  drawn  his  sword,  and  knit  his 
brow,  and  thundered  vengeance  with  his  voice,  but  all 
in  vain.  Men  have  ears  quick  to  hear  every  word,  but 
that  which  comes  charged  with  the  voice  of  God.  They 
have  minds  prudent  to  calculate,  and  hearts  prone  to 


154  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


feel  on  every  subject  but  one.  The  result  of  all  this 
insensibility  is  the  wicked  rejection  of  the  only  help 
and  Saviour. 


WRATH    OF  THE    LAMB. 

Though  conscious  of  personal  wickedness,  a  man 
may  contemplate,  with  comparative  quietness  of  mind, 
such  a  truth  as  that,  "  God  is  angry  with  the  wicked 
every  day."  He  will  tremble  indeed,  but  need  not  be 
in  despair,  for  he  can  think  of  One,  who  can  screen 
him  from  that  indignation.  But  how  dreadful  to 
contemplate,  "  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  ! "  Who  can 
screen  the  guilty  from  that  1  There  is  a  Mediator 
between  the  offending  sinner  and  the  angry  God,  and 
there  is  his  hope  ;  but  who  shall  mediate  between  him 
and  the  offended  Mediator  ? 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  n.  D.  155 


WORK    OF    THE    SPIRIT. 

Nothing  proves  the  necessity  of  the  influences  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  so  clearly  as  the  insensibility  of  men  in 
regard  to  the  character  of  Christ,  especially  as  exhibit- 
ed in  his  inconceivable  sufferings. 

Although  there  be  in  the  administration  of  grace 
several  influences  and  agencies,  without  which  the 
Church  would  not  be  built  up,  yet  there  is  but  one 
agency  by  whose  efficiency  piety  is  kept  alive.  That 
agency  is  exerted  by  the  divine  Spirit. 

What  a  noble  product  of  Omnipotence  is  a  Christian  ! 
He  is  God's  last  work.  The  difference  between  a  mere 
man  and  a  Christian,  should  be  greater  than  that  be- 
tween dust  and  man.  The  results  of  the  new  creation 
ought  to  be  strikingly  visible. 

The  first  creation  makes  us  God's,  and  constitutes 
reason  enough  why  we  should  devote  ourselves  to  him, 
and  live  alone  to  him.  But  the  second  creation  im- 
measurably strengthens  the  obligation.  God  has  made 
all  things  for  himself ;  but  in  a  more  solemn  sense 
has  he  formed  his  people  for  himself. 

One  might  almost  as  well  be  guilty  of  the  atheism 
of  denying  he  was  made  by  God,  as  that  he  was  made 
for  God. 

Whatever  we  have  from  Christ  meritoriously,  we 
have  from  the  Spirit  efficaciously. 


156  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


ANGELS. 

The  emotion  of  joyful  surprise  among  the  angelic 
hosts  must  have  been  strong  at  the  first  announcement 
of  the  intended  recovery  of  any  of  the  race  of  men  by  the 
Lord's  taking  pity,  where  they  had  thought  he  must 
take  vengeance. 

If  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  prophets,  who  were, 
as  sinners,  personally  interested  in  what  they  were 
inspired  to  foretel,  should  inquire  and  search  diligently 
concerning  this  salvation;  neither  is  it  so  surprising 
that  angels,  whose  nature  prompts  them  to  sympathize 
in  whatever  displays  the  glory  of  God,  or  promotes  the 
welfare  of  their  fellow  beings,  should  desire  to  look 
into  these  things,  and  that  they  should  turn  from  the 
mysteries  of  creation  and  providence,  to  contemplate 
the  yet  deeper  mysteries  of  redemption.  They,  who 
celebrated  man  created,  shovild  raise  yet  loftier  their 
songs  for  man  saved. 


ADAM    OUR    FEDERAL    HEAD. 

Suppose  we  say,  as  some  do,  that  men  were  not 
represented  in  Adam,  for  that  were  unjust ;  but  that  in 
consequence  of  their  connexion  with  him,  they  neces- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  157 

sarily  derive  from  him  his  own  moral  nature,  which  is 
corrupt;  for  "who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an 
unclean  7"  How  does  this  help  the  matter  1  Surely  it 
is  as  correct  to  constitute  one  man  the  representative  of 
all,  as,  without  doing  this,  to  entail  on  them  all  the  con- 
sequences of  sin.  Besides,  who  but  God  constituted  this 
natural  connexion  between  the  first  man  and  his  pos- 
terity 1  And  is  he  not  responsible  for  its  necessary  re- 
sults 1  Could  he  not  have  terminated  the  race  with 
the  first  man  of  it  1  This  theory  makes  our  ruin  the 
consequence  of  the  misfortune  of  our  being  descended 
from  Adam;  which  misfortune  our  Maker  could  have 
easily  prevented.  This  is  getting  out  of  one  difficulty, 
by  getting  into  a  greater. 

If  we  have  not  a  sinful  nature,  we  might  as  well 
have  one,  as  have  a  nature  which  begins  to  sin  as  soon 
as  it  begins  to  act. 


MAN. 

The  history  of  the  human  species  is  characterized  by 
every  thing  that  is  magnificently  great  and  moment- 
ously interesting.  In  particular,  every  thing  relating 
to  his  redemption  is  in  the  highest  style  of  God.  Man 
has  been  loved  of  God  in  a  manner  and  to  an  extent 
which  no  other  creatures  have  ;  with  a  love  not  only 
superior   to  every   other,  but  perfectly   singular   in   its 

14 


168  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

kind.  There  was  never  before  any  such  thing  as  God 
loving  sinners,  God  dying  for  his  enemies,  and  saving 
the  guilty  through  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  There  has 
never  transpired  in  any  world,  among  any  creatures, 
half  so  strange,  stupendous,  and  universally  interesting 
event,  as  the  death  on  Calvary  ;  no  such  deep,  dreadful 
crime  has  been  committed  by  any  being,  as  the  killing 
of  the  Prince  of  life  by  man.  And  yet  out  of  that  very 
deed,  has  come  salvation  to  the  very  race  of  beings  that 
so  wickedly  did  it. 

Never  put  a  heavy  man  to  raise  a  sinking  cause. 

The  wicked  of  earth,  have  at  last,  in  one  thing, 
outdone  their  elder  brethren  of  the  darker  world.  The 
devil  has  an  utter  enmity  to  religion,  but  man,  worse 
herein  than  he,  has  a  sovereign  contempt  for  it.  The 
devil  hates  godliness,  but  it  is  not  in  him  to  laugh  at  it. 
His  remembrance  of  heaven  has  not  so  faded  away. 
It  is  left  unto  men  alone,  to  make  game  of  prayer,  and 
to  mock  praise,  and  to  have  a  laugh  out  of  the  character 
of  him  who  fears  God. 

There  is  no  man,  who  is  really  worthless  and  des- 
picable ;  the  most  dull,  the  most  degraded,  the  most 
depraved  of  mankind,  retains  that  about  him,  which 
must  lift  him  above  contempt.  Take  the  man,  who, 
if  possible,  unites  the  mental  imbecility  of  the  idiot, 
with  the  moral  depravity  of  the  most  accomplished 
villain,  yet  admit  him  to  be  accountable,  and  the 
particulars  in  which  this  man  differs  from  others,  con- 
siderable as  they  are  in  themselves,  are  as  nothing  to 
those  in  which  he  agrees  with  others,  who  are  not  the 
children  of  God.    He  still  holds  all  the  great  thing's 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  159 

in  common  with  the  more  intelligent  and  the  less 
depraved.  The  poorest  slave,  the  meanest  beggar, 
the  foulest  wretch,  is  a  man ;  and  to  be  a  man, 
is  infinitely  more  than  to  be  a  great  man  or  a  wise 
man.  God  is  his  maker.  His  nature  was  taken  into 
vmion  with  the  divine  nature.  An  immortal  spirit 
resides  in  him.  The  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  gave 
him  breath.  If  he  is  a  fallen  creature,  so  are  you. 
Christ  died  for  him  as  much  as  for  you.  To  him,  as  to 
you,  a  crown  of  everlasting  life  is  offered  as  earnestly 
and  as  freely,  and  no  more,  without  price.  Why  then 
dost  thou  set  at  nought  thy  brother] 

We  know  of  nothing  more  opposite  to  the  spirit  of 
the  divine  law,  or  more  offensive  to  the  Most  High, 
than  haughty  and  contemptuous  treatment  of  our 
fellow  men. 


THE    SOUL. 


Ah,  it  is  enough  to  break  the  heart,  to  see  for  how 
mean  and  miserable  a  consideration,  men  barter  away 
their  eternal  all — for  what  a  worthless  vanity  they 
sacrifice  their  heaven — at  what  a  paltry  price  they  sell 
the  hope  of  the  soul.  Souls  are  cheap,  for  the  market  is 
glutted.  Let  intemperance,  debauchery,  vanity,  world- 
liness,  and  ambition,  say  what  they  give  for  souls,  and 
men  will  be  amazed  at  how  cheap  a  rate  all  is  parted 
with. 


160  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

You  liave  often  heard  discourses  on  the  worth  of  the 
soul.  They  are  generally  unsatisfactory.  The  text 
which  they  are  usually  founded  upon,  is  better  than 
many  sermons  :    "  What  is  a  man  profited,"  &c. 

There  are  some  hopefully  good  people,  that  are  in 
the  habit  of  speaking  lightly,  and  with  apparent  reck- 
lessness, of  this  person  as  living,  and  of  that  person  as 
having  died  without  religion.  This  I  believe,  but  I 
cannot  laugh  over  it;  and  God  forgive  me,  if  I  have 
ever  spoken  lightly  of  it.  It  is  so  awful  a  thing  to  live 
without  religion,  and  so  inexpressibly  dreadful  to  die 
without  it,  that  it  strikes  me  we  had  better  be  entirely 
silent  about  the  dead,  and  speak  softly  of  the  living. 
Oh,  do  you  reflect  upon  the  consequences  of  living 
and  dying  without  religion  1  Who  that  considers  the 
worth  of  the  soul,  who  that  thinks  of  its  sublime  intel- 
ligence, and  its  great  and  growing  capacities  for  pleas- 
ure and  pain,  and  its  eternity,  can  contemplate  even 
the  probability  of  its  loss,  without  the  solemnity  of  the 
grave  upon  his  spirit  1 


HUMAN    ACCOUNTABILITY. 

If  men  neither  make  nor  maintain  themselves,  on 
what  principle  can  they  claim  to  be  their  own.  You 
call  that  your  own,  which  you  have  taken  from  the 
desert  and  since  nourished.      You  call   that  yours,  of 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  161 

which  you  have  only  altered  the  form.  If  that  is  thine^ 
whose  art  thou,  that  art  in  matter,  and  form,  and  mind, 
Jehovah's  1 

Whether  God  regard  his  own  honor  or  our  happiness, 
he  cannot  demand  less  of  us,  than  that  whatever  we 
do,  we  do  all  to  his  glory. 

No  ingenuous  spirit  would  Avish  to  be  released  from 
so  sweet  an  obligation  as  results  from  that  glorious  fact, 
'*  Ye  are  bought  with  a  price." 

That  man  who  supposes  that  he  is  not  under  obliga- 
tions to  do  any  thing  for  which  he  cannot  show  an 
express  command  in  so  many  words  in  the  Bible,  nor 
to  abstain  from  any  thing  but  what  is  literally  and 
specifically  forbidden  in  the  book  of  the  law  of  the 
Lord,  has  adopted  a  rule  of  conduct  as  false  in  principle 
as  it  will  be  fatal  in  effect." 

When  God  asks  the  question,  "What  could  have 
been  done  more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not  done 
in  it  1"  he  gives  them  the  privilege  of  answering  it,  if 
they  can,  in  any  way  to  diminish  obligation. 

Disinclination  to  duty  is  no  excuse  for  its  neglect. 
The  deeper  the  disinclination  the  greater  the  guilt.  If 
the  disinclination  be  invincible,  it,  so  far  from  severing 
obligation,  makes  its  subject  most  guilty  of  all ;  else 
perfection  in  wickedness  at  last  binds  a  man  in  in- 
nocency. 

Methinks  the  greatest  guilt  a  man  can  contract,  is  in 
bringing  guilt  on  another  ;  and  the  greatest  injury  we 
can  do  to  another,  is  to  persuade  him  to  injure  himself. 

Did  you  never  hear  it  said,  in  reference  to  something 

manifestly  wrong,  op  of  questionable  propriety,   "Why, 

14* 


162  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

if  I  did  not  do  il,  somebody  else  would,  and  I  might  as 
well  reap  the  profit  of  it  as  he."  Miserable  morality  ! 
Stupid  attempt  at  exculpation  ! 

In  vain  do  men  attempt  to  destroy  responsibility  by 
dividing  it.  Yet  they  do  attempt  it.  How  common 
is  the  remark,  that  a  corporation  or  board  of  managers 
will  together,  do  acts,  which  no  individual  of  them 
would  think  of  doing  in  his  private  capacity. 

There  is  no  room  for  agency  in  religion.  In  this 
every  man  must  be  his  own  factor.  No  ministry  or 
priesthood  can  successfully  manage  for  thee  the  affairs 
of  thy  soul.  Thou  must  repent,  and  believe,  and  love 
for  thyself.  The"  very  thought  that  any  of  these  may 
be  done  by  another  for  thee  is  absurdity.  The  grand 
responsibility  to  God,  no  man  can  transfer  to  another. 
No  being  can  ever  share  it  with  us.  Even  the  media- 
tion of  Christ,  so  far  from  impairing,  heightens  personal 
responsibility.  Therefore  the  apostle  says,  "  Let  every 
man  prove  his  own  works,  and  then  shall  he  have  re- 
joicing in  himself  and  not  in  another  ;  for  every  man 
shall  bear  his  own  burden." 


PERFECTION. 

Against  the  doctrine  of  sinless  perfection  in  man  in 
this  life,  there  lie  two  serious  objections.  The  first  is, 
that  it  is  not  proven  by  the  Bible.     Where  is  the  text  1 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  163 

The  other  is,  that  there  is,  if  possible,  still  less  proof  of 
it  in  actual  life.  Where  is  the  example  1  Give  us  the 
text, — give  us  the  man. 


SIN. 

There  is  no  innocent  way  of  becoming  guilty,  and  no 
just  method  of  being  unjust. 

There  is  no  such  losing  business  one  ever  engages  in 
as  sinning  against  God.  Its  pleasures,  for  it  has  them, 
are  but  for  a  season  ;  its  pains  are  forever  ;  its  profit  is 
partial  and  soon  exhausted  ;  its  loss  is  entire  and 
irretrievable. 

It  is  better  to  starve  than  to  sin  for  a  sustenance. 

It  is  no  less  fiendish  than  foolish  to  make  a  mock 
at  sin. 

Men  who  profess  to  believe  the  Scripture  history  of 
Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  plead  for  the  unoffending  inno- 
cence of  human  nature,  and  deny  the  vicarious  nature 
of  Christ's  sufferings,  must  believe  their  Maker  not 
only  unjust  but  cruel.  For  here  stands  the  fact,  that 
an  innocent  and  holy  being  has  been  in  the  world, 
subjected  to  the  most  intense  agonies,  and  to  the  most 
excruciating  death,  not  for  himself,  but  in  behalf  of 
men.  When  did  God  permit  even  one  of  the  holy 
angels  in  his  visit  to  earth  to  be  a  sufferer  1  Never. 
But  by  the  order  of  Providence,  and.  under  the  eye  of 


164  SKLF.CT     REMAINS    OF 

heaven,  pains  were  inflicted  on  Him,  the  innocent.  Must 
it  not  have  been  for  us,  the  guilty  ?  Shall  we  arraign 
infinite  wisdom's  plan,  and  infinite  mercy's  work,  for 
the  removal  of  a  curse  from  a  world  in  death,  merely  to 
save  the  reputation  of  poor  human  nature  1  Rather  let 
us  rejoice  that  "  Christ  hath  once  suffered  for  sin,  the 
just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God." 
Let  as  plead  guilty,  that  we  may  be  justified,  and  cry 
unclean,  unclean,  that  we  may  wash  in  the  fountain 
opened,  and  be  clean. 

Sin  being  the  cause  of  all  other  evils,  they  can  be 
removed  only  by  the  removal  of  it.  This  is  the  plan 
of  the  Gospel.  It  strikes  at  the  root  of  evil.  It  con- 
cerns itself  about  sin.  Christ  came  to  put  away  sin. 
The  Gospel  proposes  to  make  men  happy,  only  by 
making  them  holy. 

How  absurdly  they  act,  who  seek  enjoyment  in  sin, 
when,  but  for  sin,  there  would  have  been  nothing  but 
enjoyment. 

Things,  in  themselves  trifles,  cease  to  be  such,  when 
commanded  by  God.  The  law  of  God  dignifies  every- 
thing that  is  introduced  into  it. 

The  particulars  in  which  some  sins  are  distinguished 
from  others  are  unimportant,  in  comparison  with  those 
in  which  all  sins  agree.  Every  sin  is  a  transgression 
of  the  law  of  God,  and  an  act  of  rebellion  against 
his  government.  Every  sin  opposes  and  offends  God. 
Every  sin  pollutes  the  soul.  Every  sin  is  mortal,  de- 
structive of  the  happiness,  and  subversive  of  the  recti- 
tude of  the  soul  that  commits  it.  There  is  no  sin,  the 
guilt  of  which  can  be  removed  by  any  thing  short  of 


W!i.T,iA">r     >RVINS,    D.  P.  165 

the  blood  of  the  divine  Saviour ;  and  the  defilement  of 
which,  can  be  taken  away  by  any  other  power  than 
that  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

He  who  breaks  God's  law,  does  in  effect  invade  and 
assail  the  happiness  of  the  universe,  and  does  what  he 
can  to  spread  ruin  and  death  over  the  creation.  He 
lends  his  aid  to  the  production  of  all  the  vast  accumula- 
tion of  evils  that  afflict  our  race — helps  on  the  cause 
of  destruction  and  misery,  and  in  a  manner,  blows  the 
fires  of  hell  into  an  intense  fervency.  Well  may  every 
sinner  exclaim,  "  What  have  I  done  *?" 

Many  who  are  afraid  to  walk  tjie  road  to  hell,  are  yet 
ashamed  to  take  the  road  to  heaven. 

It  is  not  so  much  the  particular  sins  a  man  commits, 
that  create  and  aggravate  guilt,  as  the  circumstances 
under  which  he  commits  them.  The  greater  guilt  of 
the  people  of  Capernaum,  over  that  of  the  people  of 
Sodom,  grew  out  of  the  fact  that  they  sinned  under 
circumstances  more  favorable  to  the  cultivation  of  piety 
and  virtue. 

The  moral  aspect  of  a  community  or  an  individual  is 
no  certain  criterion  by  which  the  depravity  and  guilt  of 
that  community  or  individual  can  be  determined.  Who 
would  have  supposed  the  moral  and  sober  people  of  the 
cities  which  the  Saviour  upbraided,  more  guilty  than 
the  cities  of  the  plain,  if  Christ  had  not  told  us  they 
were  1  Yet  his  word  assures  us  of  the  fact.  So  in 
the  judgment  day,  many  human  judgments  will  be 
reversed. 


166  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


SINNERS. 

That  there  is  a  conviction  of  guilt  upon  the  universal 
mind  of  man,  we  cannot  have  a  more  satisfactory  proof, 
than  in  the  fact  that  there  has  never  been  on  the  face 
of  the  earth,  a  religion  which  has  not  supposed  man  a 
sinner,  and  exposed  to  the  vengeance  of  his  Maker, 
and  never  a  religion  whose  rites  have  been  entirely 
eucharistic  and  not  deprecatory. 

A  man  cannot  be  a  sinner,  without  being  a  great 
sinner ;  for  great  is  the  Being  offended,  great  the  au- 
thority disregarded,  great  the  light  resisted,  great  the 
benefits  despised,  and  great  the  penalty  incvuTed.  No 
man  was  ever  truly  convinced  of  sin,  who  was  not  con- 
vinced that  he  was  a  great  sinner. 

Admitting  that  ordinary  sinners,  not  professing  Chris- 
tianity, shall  not,  other  things  being  equal,  be  as  guilty, 
or  suffer  as  much,  as  the  insincere  professor,  what  of 
that  1  They  yet  contract  guilt — great  guilt — guilt  that 
will  inevitably  and  deeply  drown  them,  if  they  continue 
as  they  are.  And  is  not  this  enough  to  silence  self- 
gratulations.  What  if  the  depth  to  which  they  shall 
sink  in  perdition  is  not,  by  a  few  feet,  so  profound,  as 
the  faithless  professor  will  find  !  What  if  there  shall 
be  two  or  three  degrees  of  difference  in  the  intensity  of 
the  flame  that  shall  burn  within  and  around  them  ! 
Is  that  any  thing  to  boast  of  and  to  be  pleased  with  1 

In  how  sad  a  dilemma  is  every  sinner,  until  he  sur- 
renders himself,  without  reserve,    to   the  authority  of 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  167 

Jesus  Christ.  If  he  does  not  vow,  he  sins  ;  and  if  he 
merely  vows,  he  sins  yet  more.  If  he  withholds  his 
children  from  baptism,  he  sins ;  and  yet  he  cannot, 
remaining  as  he  is,  have  them  properly  baptized,  with- 
out sinning.  If  he  refrains  from  the  Lord's  supper,  he 
sins;  and  if  he  comes  to  it,  he  sins.  And  nothing  can 
extricate  him  from  this  dilemma,  but  his  becoming  a 
real  penitent  and  a  devoted  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ. 

How  melancholy  the  thought  that  many  are  growing 
worse  ;  first,  because  there  is  so  much  need  of  their 
getting  better ;  and  secondly,  because  such  rare  advan- 
tages for  becoming  better  are  enjoyed ;  and  thirdly, 
because  earth  is  the  only  place,  and  life  the  only  season 
for  affecting  any  change  from  bad  to  good. 

The  bondage  of  sin  over  the  soul,  is  like  the  bondage 
of  death  over  the  body ;  and  the  sleep  of  sin,  like  the 
sleep  of  death,  requires  a  blast  from  a  trumpet,  even 
mightier  than  the  archangel's,  to  break  its  power. 

The  soul  may  be  for  a  long  time  so  embalmed  in 
moral  virtues,  as  apparently  to  preserve  it  from  being 
highly  offensive,  yet  not  being  alive  unto  God,  it  is 
dead,  and  corruption  must  sooner  or  later  be  dreadfully 
manifest. 


168  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


FOLLY    OF    SIN. 

The  man  of  the  world,  equally  with  any  other  man, 
is  an  immortal,  and  shall  never  die.  He  shall  always 
think,  and  feel,  and  be  happy  or  miserable  ;  and  yet 
his  plans,  his  pursuits,  and  his  provisions,  have  reference 
only  to  the  mortal.  His  is  the  folly  of  the  man  who 
should  put  to  sea  on  the  voyage  of  a  year,  with  the  bare 
sustenance  of  a  day ;  or  of  the  caravan  which  should 
attempt  the  crossing  of  the  desert  with  a  single  can  of 
water.  Whatever  he  is  seeking,  be  it  the  world's 
wealth,  or  the  world's  admiration,  or  pleasure,  it  is  a 
provision  only  for  the  life  that  now  is.  His  gold  has 
no  currency  beyond  the  grave ;  his  distinctions  are 
not  recognized  there  ;  his  pleasures  perish  with  Iiim. 
When  he  cometh  to  that  dividing  stream,  he  finds  that 
every  thing  he  possesses  is  contraband,  and  cannot  even 
be  smuggled  into  eternity.  Naked  and  destitute  as  a 
newborn  child  he  goes.  "We  brought  nothing  into 
the  world,  and  it  is  certain  that  we  can  carry  nothing 
out." 

As  to  those  gay  and  happy  creatures,  into  whose 
reckoning  the  pleasures  of  God  and  devotion  do  not 
enter,  it  is  but  to  alter  their  circumstances  a  little,  and 
they  become  dull  and  miserable.  It  is  but  to  bid  them 
away  from  the  field  of  their  customary  amusements, 
and  to  introduce  them  to  a  spiritual  world,  and  they 
are   sad,   and   forlorn,  and   wretched.      They  shall   be 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  169 

happy  so  long  as  the  playhouse  opens  its  inviting  doors 
— so  long  as  the  gay  and  bright  assembly  holds  out  its 
most  beguiling  charms — so  long  as  the  fashion,  and 
glitter,  and  imposing  pomp  of  the  world  remain  to 
them.  Let  the  recess,  brought  in  by  death,  come  to 
these  things,  and  perfect  misery  is  the  necessary  result. 
He  who  digs  for  wealth,  ought  to  know  that  every 
ounce  of  earth  he  throws  up,  is  excavated  from  his  own 
grave  ;  and  he,  of  pallid  look,  that  sits  hour  after  hour, 
studying  for  the  crown  of  literary  distinction,  that  the 
very  lamp,  by  which  he  labors  for  the  prize,  is  fed  by 
the  precious  oil  of  life,  that  will  soon  be  all  wasted 
away ;  and  the  man  that  dashes  through  dust  and 
blood,  in  the  fierce  pursuit  of  military  glory,  knows  well 
that  his  struggle  is  in  the  field  of  death,  and  that  often 
it  is  the  cold  hand  of  death  that  puts  the  wreath  of 
glory  on  his  brow.     Yet  is  their  folly  not  cured. 


DEPUAVITY. 

The  power  of  sin  is  such,  that  without  divine  aid, 
the  profligate  would  not  forsake  his  debaucheries, 
though  a  mysterious  finger  should  write  his  condem- 
nation in  letters  of  flame  before  him,  and  add  eternity 
in  capitals  ;  and  the  drunkard,  when  he  feels  the  burn- 
ing sensation  of  thirst  at  his  breast,  will,  for  the  quiet- 
ing of  that  sensation,  deliberately  barter  the  world,  yea, 

15 


170  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

the  hope  of  eternal  life  for  a  cup,  whose  dregs  he  knows 
to  be  death  and  hell.  We  hear  men  say,  they  don't 
think  God  ever  made  a  being  to  damn  him,  while 
they  are  doing  all  they  can  to  damn  themselves. 

It  is  not  recorded  of  Christ  that  he  ever  smiled.  Yet 
sinners,  unpardoyied  sinners,  smile  in  the  face  of  a 
frowning  God,  and  with  the  gloomy  prospect  of  an 
undone  eternity  before  them.     How  strange  ! 

It  is  melancholy  enough  to  see  a  fellow-immortal 
doing  that  which  we  know  he  will  hereafter  wish  he 
had  not  done  ;  but  to  see  him  doing  that  which  he  him- 
self knows,  at  the  time  of  doing  it,  he  will  wish  he  had 
not  done — nay  more,  to  see  him  doing  that  which  he 
intends  hereafter  to  wish  he  had  not  done,  this  is  some- 
thing more  than  melancholy.  What  is  it  but  the  most 
extravagant  infatuation,  that  would  deserve  to  be  only 
pitied,  were  it  not  that  in  being  voluntary,  it  merits  to 
be  most  severely  condemned.  What  a  use  is  this  to 
make  of  the  immortal  mind  ;  how  dishonoring  to  the 
Maker  of  it ;  how  disreputable  to  the  mind  itself! 

If  the  question  should  be  put  to  the  vote,  on  the 
principle  of  universal  suffrage,  the  Christian  life  would 
be  voted  out  as  unworthy  and  absurd.  In  like  manner 
wovild  the  ballot  of  the  great,  and  noble,  and  learned, 
and  fair,  decide  it.  They  have  done  so  ;  and  where 
Christ  has  not  been  persecuted  out  of  the  world,  he  has 
always  been  excluded  from  the  court,  the  cabinet,  and 
the  drawing-room. 

I  suppose  that  if  a  belief  of  the  clearest  demonstra- 
tion in  Euclid's  Elements,  rendered  a  holy  life  neces- 
sary,  there    are    many   who    would   never   be    able   to 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  I).  171 

perceive  the  conclusiveness  of  the  reasoning  by  which 
it  is  established. 

The  natural  man  has  indeed  sense,  and  judgment, 
and  aJ0fections ;  but  his  senses  discern  not  spiritual 
objects,  his  judgment  approves  them  not,  his  affections 
fix  not  upon  them.  He  has  no  ears  to  listen  to  the 
words  of  eternal  life,  no  eyes  to  see  the  glory  of  religion, 
no  voice  to  give  utterance  to  prayer  and  praise,  no  taste 
for  spiritual  enjoyments.  Perception  he  has,  but  not 
of  the  things  of  the  Spirit ;  meinory  also,  but  it  receives 
not  the  impressions  of  divine  truth  ;  imagination,  but 
the  beauties  and  sublimities  of  religion  cannot  interest 
it.  He  feels  a  sense  of  obligation,  but  not  towards 
God  ;  he  is  susceptible  of  the  emotions  of  gratitude, 
but  not  for  those  gifts  that  came  down  from  heaven  ;  he 
can  feel  concern,  but  not  for  the  things  which  belong 
to  his  everlasting  peace.  He  can  be  agitated  by  fear 
and  excited  by  hope  ;  but  in  vain  do  the  realities  be- 
yond the  grave  address  themselves  to  these  passions  of 
the  human  heart.  He  has  a  heart  all  emotion,  but  a 
Saviour's  love  cannot  move  it.  He  can  sorrow  for 
every  thing  but  sin  ;  can  rejoice  in  every  thing  but  the 
Gospel ;  can  study  with  delight  every  subject  but  re- 
demption ;  can  be  made  happy  more  easily  by  any 
object  than  God.  On  him  he  leans  not  for  support ;  to 
him  he  flies  not  for  refuge  ;  from  him  he  asks  no  coun- 
sel in  diflSculty  ;  to  him  he  seeks  not  for  consolation  in 
trouble. 

He  who  is  unregenerate,  has  refused  to  be  illumina- 
ted by  the  most  brilliant  of  all  lights,  or  melted  by  the 
most  blessed  of  all  influences,  or  healed  by  the  most 


172  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

sovereign  of  all  medicines,  or  redeemed  by  the  most 
precious  of  all  prices. 

Human  nature  demands  more  than  illumination ; 
otherwise  our  sins  are  only  sins  of  ignorance ;  the 
periods  of  greatest  light,  would  be  the  periods  of  the 
most  singular  virtue  ;  and  the  best  instructed  in  their 
duty,  would  be  the  most  careful  to  do  it.  But  this  is 
by  no  means  the  case.  The  advancement  of  knowl- 
edge is  not  the  promotion  of  religion.  To  teach  men  is 
not  to  reform  them.  The  path  of  duty  does  not  become 
pleasant  merely  from  being  strongly  lighted.  There 
must  evidently  be  a  new  disposition  in  men  ere  they 
will  obey  God.  As  instruction  will  not  reforni  men,  so 
neither  will  persuasion,  the  accumulation  of  motives, 
and  the  presenting  of  them  in  the  most  clear  and  forci- 
ble manner,  with  the  greatest  urgency,  and  the  warm- 
est and  tenderest  expostulation,  accomplish  the  desired 
object. 


TOTAL    DEPRAVITY. 

Some  object  to  the  phrase  total  depravity,  as  express- 
ing the  moral  condition  of  men.  But  that  phrase, 
though  technical  and  definite,  is  not  so  strong  as  the 
language  of  Scripture.  There  we  are  said  to  be  "  dead 
in  trespasses  and  sins."  The  phrase  means  much,  but 
what?      Why,    that   men   by   reason   of   sin   are   the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  173 

subjects  of  death.  There  is  an  animal  life  ;  they  are 
not  dead  Avith  respect  to  that.  There  is  an  intellectual 
life  ;  but  they  are  not  dead  in  reference  to  that.  The 
highest,  happiest,  noblest  species  of  life,  is  spiritual  life. 
They  are  destitute  of  that.  Thus  they  are  dead.  That 
life  is  not  languishing  in  them.  It  is  extinct.  They 
are  not  dying.  They  are  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins  ; 
wholly  destitute  of  spiritual  life ;  altogether  without 
holiness  ;  having  no  love  to  God  ;  for  that  life  is  love. 
It  is  certainly  implied  in  this  expression  that  the  moral 
condition  of  men  is  hopeless,  but  for  divine  interposition. 
There  is  no  power  can  reach  a  case  of  death,  but  God's 
only.  A  man,  by  human  means  and  ministrations,  may 
be  brought  back  from  the  very  state  of  dying ;  but 
when  death  has  supervened,  these  means  are  vain. 
The  least  lingering  spark  may  be  so  cherished,  and 
fanned,  and  fed,  as  at  length  to  burn  up  in  a  blaze ;  but 
if  that  spark  goes  out,  it  can  be  restored  only  from 
heaven.  Now  men  are  dead.  Their  case  requires 
vivification,  resurrection.  Therefore  God  alone  can 
reach  it.  The  Christian  character,  that  which  renders 
one  meet  for  heaven,  is  not  any  improvement  of  the 
native  character,  but  a  substitution  of  a  new  and  differ- 
ent character.  You  must  become  not  barely  a  better 
man  than  you  naturally  are,  for  that  would  imply  that 
there  is  some  native  goodness ;  but  you  must  become 
another  and  a  different  man.  God  says,  "  A  new  heart 
will  I  give  you,  and  I  will  take  away  the  stony  heart 
out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  a  heart  of  flesh." 
Where    then   is    the   validity  of  the    objection   to   the 

phrase,  "total  depravity"?     Who  would  not  as  readily 

15* 


174  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

have  a  friend  say  of  him,  "  thou  art  totally  depraved," 
as  "thou  art  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins]"  If  God 
insists  on  a  new  heart,  must  it  not  be  because  the 
old  one  is  wholly  incapable  of  improvement — totally 
depraved**? 


RUIN    EASY    YET    DREADFUL. 

Oh,  how  easy  it  is  to  ruin  one's  self  and  others.  But 
to  raise  the  fallen  mind  and  restore  the  ruined  nature, 
how  hard  !  No  power  can  do  it.  Even  with  God,  it  is 
not  mainly  a  work  of  power ;  else  his  Son  would  not 
have  been  obedient  unto  death.  How  short  was  the 
work  of  our  undoing  in  paradise.  She  took  and  ate, 
and  gave  to  him,  and  he  ate,  and  it  was  done.  But  to 
undo  that,  how  many  generations  it  has  occupied  ;  how 
many  beings  it  has  engaged  ;  what  a  sacrifice  it  may 
be  said  to  have  cost  God ;  how  many  drops  of  sweat, 
and  tears,  and  blood,  it  has  called  for.  Oh,  what 
agency  has  been  found  necessary  to  undo  it  !  Soon 
the  covenant  of  death  was  struck,  but  not  so  that  of 
life  and  grace. 

How  easy  it  is  to  be  undone  for  ever !  It  is  but  to  sit 
still,  and  you  die.  It  is  only  to  do  nothing.  It  costs  no 
effort.  Just  "neglect  the  great  salvation,  and  you 
shall  not  escape  the  damnation  of  hell." 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  175 

A  man  can  destroy  himself,  but  he  cannot  save  him- 
self. It  is  easier  to  destroy  than  to  save  ;  to  pull  down 
than  to  build  up ;  to  take  life  than  to  restore  it. 
"  Facilis  descensus  Averni,  sed  revocare  gradum,  hoc 
opus,  hie  labor  est;" — to  destroy  is  human,  to  save 
is  divine.  "O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself,  but 
in  me  is  thy  help."  The  first  man,  he  by  whom  the 
offence  came,  needed  to  be  but  of  the  earth,  earthy  ; 
the  second  man,  he  by  whom  the  free  gift  came,  be- 
hooved to  be  the  Lord  from  heaven.  Adam  to  destroy, 
had  only  to  reach  out  his  hand,  and  take,  and  eat ;  but 
Christ,  an  infinitely  more  glorious  personage,  to  save, 
had  to  labor,  to  weep,  and  to  die.  To  shut  heaven 
against  our  race,  O,  how  easy  it  was,  but  to  open 
it  again,  what  it  cost  even  the  Son  of  God  !  Man 
could  sin,  but  it  required  the  incarnation  of  Deity  to 
atone  for  sin.  One  transgression  of  man  obliterated 
the  image  of  God  from  his  soul,  but  to  restore  it,  de- 
mands the  operation  of  the  divine  Spirit.  We  can  unfit, 
we  have  unfitted  ourselves  for  heaven,  but  to  fit  us  for 
it  is  as  much  the  work  of  God  as  creation.  A  single 
and  easy  effort  quenches  the  spark  of  spiritual  life,  but 
no  collision  of  earthly  materials  can  strike  it  up  again; 
fire  must  come  down  from  heaven  to  rekindle  it ;  in 
Jehovah  is  our  help,  and  he  has  come  forth  for  our 
help;  and  the  work  he  has  undertaken  for  us  is 
greater  than  the  work  of  creation.  Look  at  it  in  its 
preparation  ;  look  at  it  in  its  execution ;  love  impelled 
him  to  seek  a  ransom  ;  he  found  one  in  his  only  begot- 
ten Son,  and  he  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  him. 
He  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquities  of  us  all ;  with  his 


176  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

sacrifice  he  is  well  pleased ;  and  now  he  is  in  Christ 
reconciling  the  world  to  himself.  And  he  has  sent 
forth  his  Spirit  to  convince  the  world  of  sin,  and  to 
take  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  show  them  unto  us. 
Will  you  avail  yourselves  of  his  help  ]  Help  yourselves 
you  cannot,  and  creatures  cannot  help  you,  God  alone 
can  ;  and  now  he  will,  he  waits  to  help  you  ;  will  you 
be  helped  by  him,  or  will  you  continue  undone  for  ever? 
There  is  no  other  alternative ;  choose  in  view  of  this. 


THE    SINNER'S    CONDITION. 

O,  sinner,  hast  thou  any  hope,  or  inheritance,  or 
treasure  beyond  the  grave  1  Alas,  none  !  Your  hope 
and  portion  lie  below.  And  yet  you  are  on  the  brink 
of  the  grave,  and  a  step  carries  you  beyond  it.  Here 
you  have  no  continuing  city,  nor  yet  do  you  seek  one 
to  come.  You  have  a  treasure,  but  it  is  on  earth  ;  a 
portion,  but  it  is  in  this  life  ;  good  things,  but  they  are 
here.  You  are  presently  going  to  eternity,  where  you 
have  nothing,  and  whither  you  can  carry  nothing  of  all 
you  have  here.  What  a  prospect  you  have  before  you  ! 
A  blank  eternity  !  An  eternity  of  unsatisfied  desire, 
without  any  thing,  without  even  hope.  Behold  before 
you  an  immortality  utterly  unprovided  for  ;  and  within 
a  day  you  may  be  compelled  to  enter  upon  it.  Still 
there  is  an  opportunity  of  changing  the  prospect ;  still 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  177 

the  hope  of  the  Gospel  is  set  before  you  ;  still  you  may 
lay  hold  of  it,  if  you  will  but  fly  for  refuge  to  Jesus. 

The  way  of  life  and  grace  is  indicated  by  a  thousand 
bends,  and  lighted  by  ten  thousand  lamps,  and  we  are* 
exhorted,  yea,  intreated  by  motives  of  every  kind  and 
from  every  world  to  pursue  it.  And  no  solitary  index 
ever  set  up  by  God  points  its  finger  to  any  other,  and 
there  is  access  to  this  way  only  from  this  world  ;  and 
human  life  is  a  withering  flower,  a  fleeting  shadow,  a 
vanishing  vapor,  a  breath  in  the  hand  of  God,  a  short 
uncertainty. 


PLEAS    OF    SINNERS. 

Some  sinners  would  set  off  their  obedience  against 
their  disobedience  ;  pleading  merit  against  demerit ;  as- 
serting that  they  have  done  some  evil  and  much  good ; 
urging  in  extenuation,  that  the  temptation  was  strong, 
and  their  natures  frail ;  declaring  that  they  were  sorry 
for  the  offence  before  they  committed  it,  as  well  as  ever 
since,  and  that  they  do  not  intend  ever  to  repeat  it ; 
and  finally  reminding  God  that  the  sin  which  they 
have  committed  was  small, — "  Is  it  not  a  little  one  1" 
thus  fostering  a  vain  hope  of  pardon  and  acceptance. 
How  very  different  from  such  was  the  Psalmist.  He 
prayed,  "  For  thy  name's  sake,  Oh,  Lord,  pardon  mine 
iniquity,  for  it  is  great.''''     This  is  the  temper  on  which 


178  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

a  sense  of  pardon  will  produce  penitence  and  humility. 
The  greater  one's  need  of  pardon,  the  less  able  to  do 
without  it — the  more  urgent  the  case — the  more  mis- 
erable the  condition — the  more  powerful  the  plea  with 
God.  The  magnitude  of  a  man's  iniquity  enforces  his 
plea  for  pardon,  just  as  the  greatness  of  a  beggar's 
necessities  enforces  his  petition  for  relief,  just  as  the 
squallid  wretchedness  of  the  returning  prodigal,  plead- 
ed with  a  kind  father.  Besides,  God's  grace  is  more 
glorified  in  pardoning  great  iniquity,  for  none  but  a 
great  God  can  do  such  a  thing. 

It  follows  that  if  the  greatness  of  one's  iniquity  be  a 
reason  why  it  should  be  forgiven,  it  can  never  be  a 
reason  why  it  should  not  be  forgiven. 


INABILITY. 


We  ought  to  be  very  guarded  in  the  use  of  language. 
Yet  is  there  no  impropriety  in  saying  of  God  that  he 
cannot  do  certain  things,  for  although  cannot  more  com- 
monly signifies  the  want  of  power  to  accomplish  a  thing, 
yet  this  is  not  the  only  meaning  of  cannot  in  the  Bible 
or  out  of  it.  It  always  implies  the  existence  of  an 
effectual  obstacle,  so  that  the  thing  will  certainly  not  be 
done ;  but  the  obstacle  is  not  always  a  want  of  power  to 
accomplish  it.  It  may  be  a  want  of  will,  or  the  sense 
of  justice,  or  the  principle  of  honor,  or  the  strength  of 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  179 

affection,  or  something  else.  There  is  an  indisposition 
which  is  as  invincible  as  any  inability.  You  might  as 
soon  move  a  mountain,  as  shake  the  integrity  of  some 
men.  Some  can  be  bound  by  the  spiritual  bonds  of  love 
as  fast  as  others  can  by  chains  of  iron.  If  I  were  going 
to  define  cannot,  I  would  say  that  it  expresses  either 
want  of  power  to  do  a  thing,  or  the  existence  of  a  moral 
obstacle  to  its  performance,  as  effectual  and  insuperable 
as  that  reared  by  an  absolute  impossibility.  And  if 
this  definition  were  admitted,  it  strikes  me  that  it  would 
settle  at  once  the  long  debated  question  in  the  Church 
in  regard  to  moral  and  natural  inability.  One  theolo- 
gian says  the  sinner  can  repent,  another  says  he  cannot, 
and  thus  the  minds  of  the  people  are  perplexed.  They 
are  both  right  in  part,  and  both  in  part  wrong.  He 
can,  that  is,  in  so  far  as  repentance  is  an  act  of  power ; 
and  yet  he  cannot,  on  account  of  his  love  of  sin — his 
utter  and  invincible  aversion  to  God  and  holiness. 


SELF-RIGHTEOUS  NESS. 

Could  men  climb  some  steep  and  rugged  ascent,  and 
enter  heaven  with  the  boast  of  victory  by  their  own 
right  hand,  and  give  out  the  impression  that  they  had, 
unaided,  won  for  themselves  the  crown  of  glory  that 
fadeth  not  away,  many  would  go  to  heaven  who,  as 
tiimgs  now  are,  will  meet  an  everlasting  overthrow. 


180  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


CODE    OF    HONOR. 

Where  is  there  even  a  single  article,  in  which  the 
law  of  God  and  the  law  of  honor  do  not  clash  with 
each  other  1  At  the  very  first  glance  at  them,  we  see 
one  of  them  positively  forbidding,  and  the  other  peremp- 
torily enjoining  revenge  Snd  murder.  What  impious 
effrontery,  what  dreadful  hardihood  of  guilt  is  displayed 
in  setting  up  any  code,  but  especially  such  a  code,  in 
direct  and  known  opposition  to  the  law  of  God. 

Is  there  to  be  found  in  the  annals  of  all  the  bedlams, 
a  specimen  of  insanity,  more  wild  and  awful,  than  he 
presents,  who,  knowing  it  is  God  that  says,  "  Thou 
shalt  not  kill," — ventures,  in  compliance  with  the 
execrable  code  of  honor,  to  preface  his  sin,  by  throwing 
away  the  possibility  of  repentance,  and  puts  in  peril 
two  immortal  spirits,  and  goes  himself  or  sends  before, 
the  lost,  dreadful  foe,  an  unprepared  soul,  with  the 
fresh  guilt  of  double  murder  upon  itl  It  is  madness, 
without  the  loss  of  reason,  and  as  much  to  be  execrated 
as  to  be  pitied. 

A  man  may  have  that  in  his  blood,  which  will  em- 
bolden him  to  meet  an  antagonist  on  the  measured  field 
of  death,  and  put  the  warm  life  at  hazard,  and  peril 
both  worlds  at  once — that  in  his  blood,  which  will 
enable  him  to  defy  the  constant  terrors  of  his  much 
offended  Maker,  and  tp  look,  without  recoil  or  tremor. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D,  D.  181 

on  the  glowing  bosom  of  an  uncovered  hell;  who  yet 
has  not  a  particle  of  that  courage,  which  has  its  noble 
rest  in  the  mind,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  stand  firm  when 
threatened  with  the  neglect  or  scorn  of  a  few  miserable 
companions. 


CONSCIENCE. 

Oh,  when  shall  conscience,  the  judge  and  patron  of 
duty,  be  the  altar  instead  of  the  victim,  receiving,  in- 
stead of  constituting  the  sacrifice,  as  now  it  too  gen- 
erally does  ;  and  the  resolution  to  know  and  to  do  what 
is  duty,  prevail  over  every  other  purpose  of  the  soul  1 
That  time  has  not  yet  come. 

As  you  are  not  to  offend  your  own  conscience  for 
your  neighbor's  sake,  for  that  would  be  to  disregard  the 
Creator  out  of  respect  to  the  creature ;  so  you  are  bound 
to  forego  a  gratification  out  of  respect  to  him,  however 
mean  his  condition  or  little  his  respectability,  lest  you 
cause  him  to  offend  the  Creator  because  of  the  creature. 
Admit  that  such  a  course  would  demand  the  sacrifice 
of  personal  independence  in  a  few  trifling  things. 
Greater  and  more  glorious  men  than  you  have  done 
the  same,  and  so  far  from  tarnishing,  have  added  lustre 
to  their  names. 

Whatever  that  be,  for  which  a  good  conscience  is 
given,  is  too  dearly  purchased.     Whatever  you  fail  to 


182  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

secure,  whatev^  you  part  with,  keep  a  good  conscience 
— peace  with  yourself.  There  is  no  enemy  like  an 
offended  conscience.  There  is  no  anguish  like  self- 
reproach — no  war  so  fierce  as  that  which  a  man  wages 
with  himself. 


CASUISTRY. 


A  pure  conscience,  enlightened  from  above,  well- 
instructed  out  of  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  not  bribed  by 
selfishness,  is  the  best  of  all  casuists.  Seldom  will  a 
case  arise,  when  such  a  conscience  will  not  immediately 
and  instinctively  decide  aright. 


JUDGMENT    OF    CHARACTER. 

We  must  nqt  judge  of  ourselves  by  the  occasional 
desires  that  we  feel,  nor  by  the  occasional  resolutions 
that  we  are  induced  to  make.  They  indicate  not  what 
we  are,  but  what  we  are  capable  of,  being  under  strong 
excitements.  The  infallible  criteria  are  our  uniform 
desires  and  our  fixed  dispositions.  We  are,  in  fact,  and 
in    God's   estimation,    what   we    habitually    are.       He 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  183 

regards  us  according  to  our  established  character,  and 
not  according  to  our  occasional  deviations  from  it.  And 
if  any  man  would  know  what  his  real  character  is,  and 
what  is  the  moral  state  of  his  heart,  let  him  not  always 
look  at  himself  in  one  position  only,  but  let  him  take 
notice  of  himself  under  every  change  of  circumstances. 
Circumstances  reveal  character.  They  cross-examine 
a  man.  What  a  man  is,  in  every  variety  of  conditions, 
under  all  circumstances,  that  he  is.  If  the  sick  man 
is  anxious  and  as  firmly  resolved  to  be  religious,  when 
he  recovers  his  health,  then  his  heart  is  indeed  that 
way.  When  the  world  begins  to  look  bright  again  to 
the  mourner,  if  his  mind  is  still  directed  to  Him,  to 
whom  in  the  hour  of  trouble  he  betook  himself,  it  is  a 
sign  that  there  was  something  more  than  a  mere 
shifting  of  the  thoughts, — even  a  thorough  turning  of 
the  mind  to  God.  If  they  who  are  gracious  when  the 
pangs  come  upon  them,  are  gracious  when  they  go  off 
from  them,  they  are  gracious  in  reality. 


SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 

No  man  will  ever  find  out  fully  what  he  is  by  a  mere 
survey  of  himself.  A  heart  that  is  deceitful  above  all 
things,  in  order  to  be  known,  must  be  searched.  The 
interior  must  be  penetrated,  as  well  as  the  surface  con- 
templated.     Explore   yourselves,    therefore.      When   a 


184  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

charge  of  sinfulness  is  brought  against  you,  say  not, 
*'  I  am  not  the  man," — "  Thou  art  the  man."  David 
thought  he  was  not,  until  convicted  out  of  his  own 
mouth,  he  cried,  "  Have  mercy  upon  me,  O,  God,  and 
blot  out  all  mine  iniquities."  Paul  thought  he  was  not 
the  man.  He  was  alive  without  the  law  once,  but  when 
the  commandment  came,  sin  revived,  and  he  died — he 
found  he  was  the  man.  Job  thought  he  was  not  the 
man,  while  he  only  heard  of  God,  but  when  he  saw 
him,  he  exclaimed,  *'  Behold  I  am  vile."  The  publican 
lived  many  years,  perhaps,  before  he  discovered  what 
sort  of  a  man  he  was.  He  made  the  discovery  not  long 
before  he  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray,  Peter  was 
sure  he  was  not  the  man,  on  the  evening  before  the 
day,  when  it  was  publicly  discovered  that  he  was. 
The  prodigal  son  was  long  in  coming  to  himself.  And 
it  now  takes  a  great  while  to  bring  a  sinner  to  the  open, 
and  intelligent,  and  hearty  confession  of  his  desperate 
wickedness.  And  yet  if  any  deny  or  even  doubt  his 
own  vileness  and  guilt,  the  gospel  brings  to  him  no 
salvation,  no  joy,  no  hope. 

The  subject  of  the  first  lesson  in  the  science  of  salva- 
tion is  self.  Neither  skip  that,  nor  imperfectly  learn  it. 
The  second  treats  of  Christ,  but  it  is  so  dependent  on 
the  first,  that  it  will  never  be  rightly  learned,  till  that 
is  learned.  No  man  ever  comes  to  Christ,  till  he  has 
first  come  to  himself. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  "  185 


HYPOCRITES. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  there  do  sometimes  exist 
good  reasons  for  applying  the  odious  denomination  of 
hypocrite  to  a  man.  In  that  case  let  him  be  exposed. 
Let  not  the  world  spare  him,  and  let  not  the  Church 
receive  him.  I  have  no  apology  to  make  for  the  man, 
who  by  one  course  of  action,  declares  that  he  is  a 
Christian,  and  by  another,  proves  that  he  is  a  polluted 
sinner. 

How  absurd  the  conduct  of  the  mere  professor.  He 
takes  great  pains,  and  gets  nothing  for  it  but  greater 
guilt  and  heavier  condemnation.  He  has  too  much 
conscience  to  neglect  religion  entirely,  and  too  little  to 
make  thorough  work  of  it ;  and  thus  he  loses  both 
worlds.  Religion  does  not,  and  the  world  cannot  make 
him  happy  ;  and  all  this  happens,  in  consequence  of 
his  trying  to  be  what  he  never  can  be,  a  lover  of  this 
world  and  a  lover  of  God  too. 

Satan  himself  has  his  wardrobe  of  innocence. 

Many  are  ready  to  show  courage  for  Christ,  who 
cannot  exercise  fortitude  for  him. 


186  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


INCONSISTENCIES. 

Christ's  real  people  are  his  servants,  his  subjects,  his 
friends.  But  of  many  of  his  professed  people,  it  may 
be  said,  what  strange  servants  !  Always  at  work  for 
themselves  ; — doing  nothing  for  their  Master  !  What 
singular  subjects  ! — taking  the  reins  of  government  into 
their  own  hands,  and  making  their  own  will  a  law  unto 
themselves.  What  heartless  friends  ! — preferring  the 
company  of  the  vain  and  the  friendship  of  the  world, 
above  communion  with  God. 

The  most  important  things  are  the  most  neglected. 
In  proportion  as  subjects  deserve  attention,  it  is  denied 
them.  The  life  of  man  is  chiefly  taken  up  with  trifles. 
Compare  what  men  are  doing,  with  what  they  are 
leaving  undone,  and  you  will  see  with  surprise,  how 
much  the  latter  transcends  in  importance  the  former. 

He  that  does  good  without  being  good,  pulls  down 
with  one  hand  what  he  builds  up  with  the  other. 

He  who  by  inconsistency  becomes  a  stumbling-block 
in  the  church,  is  the  grief  of  the  church,  the  jest  of  the 
world,  and  the  gazing  stock  of  fallen  angels. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  187 


THE    CHRISTIAN. 

The  real  Christian  is  the  only  truly  prudent  man. 
He  has  laid  up  in  store  for  the  winter  of  the  grave. 
He  has  sown  for  eternity.  He  looks  through  all  the 
future,  and  provides  for  it  all.  He  sees  the  evils  that 
are  before  him,  and  from  all  of  them,  hides  himself  in 
Christ.  He  is  prepared  to  die,  to  be  judged,  and  to  be 
glorified.  The  presence  of  Christ  will  be  with  him  in 
death — the  righteousness  of  Christ  upon  him  at  the 
judgment,  and  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  sanctifying  him 
for  glory.  He  may  have  no  treasure  on  earth ;  and  no 
matter  if  he  has  not;  he  is  only  passing  rapidly  over  it; 
and  if  he  had,  he  could  not  take  it  with  him ;  but  in 
heaven,  his  goal,  his  home,  he  has  a  treasure.  It  is 
where  he  is  to  be — where  he  will  want  it — where  he 
can  use  it.  This  is  the  prudent  man.  Mark  him. 
Imitate  him. 


HAPPINESS    OF    THE    RIGHTEOUS. 

God  is  the  unchangeable  friend  of  all  his  people. 
The  same  cause  which  originated  his  love,  must  per- 
petuate   it.      Whoever    frowns,    he    smiles.       Whoever 


188  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

opposes,  he  is  on  their  side,  able,  disposed,  and  deter- 
mined to  make  them  happy,  pledged  by  word,  and 
oath,  and  act,  to  do  it;  having  said  it,  and  sworn  it,  and 
spared  not  his  Son  to  accomplish  it.  The  eye  whose 
glance  surveys  creation,  watches  over  them,  and  all 
but  weeps  in  sympathy  with  them.  The  hand  that 
sustains  the  world,  holds  them  in  its  hollow,  and  the 
arm  that  embraces  the  universe,  clasps  them  to  the 
bosom  of  infinite  affection.  What  a  reflection  this ! 
Every  pain  is  but  a  means  of  pleasure  ;  every  trial,  but 
for  the  refinement  of  the  soul ;  every  suffering,  disci- 
plinary ;  every  tear,  a  seed  of  joy ;  and  all  things 
relating  to  the  saints,  working  together  for  their  good. 
Oh,  in  this  assurance  there  is  life.  With  this  to  sup- 
port, what  cannot  be  endured  1  What  burden  can 
depress  a  soul,  to  which  this  assurance  gives  buoyancy*? 
What  sorrow  can  come  up  to  this  joy  1  It  neutralizes 
pain ;  it  banishes  fear  ;  it  diffuses  a  sweetness  through 
life  ;   it  changes  the  nature  of  death. 

What  Christian  can  doubt  that  St.  Paul,  during  the 
time  of  his  imprisonment  at  Rome,  was  by  far  the 
happiest  human  being  in  that  imperial  city  ;  and  that 
in  his  Christian  experience,  from  day  to  day,  there  was 
to  be  found  more  to  be  earnestly  desired,  than  could  be 
collected  from  the  longest  and  most  fortunate  life  of 
the  greatest  and  gayest  of  mankind  1  External  circum- 
stances were  indeed  against  him ;  but  he  had  that 
within  him  which  was  independent  of  external  cir- 
cumstances, yea,  which  triumphed  over  them.  What 
though  the  spectacles  of  this  earth  were  excluded  from 
him?      The  glories  of  heaven  were  unveiled  to  him. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  189 

What  though  the  converse  of  Christian  men  was  denied 
himi  The  communion  of  God  and  his  Son,  were 
vouchsafed  to  him;  and  his  soul,  had,  through  the 
eternal  Spirit,  sweet  fellowship  with  the  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect.  What  if  his  body  was  confined? 
His  emancipated  and  unshackled  spirit  expatiated  at 
large.  No  tyranny  could  limit  his  excursive  thought ; 
no  chains  bind  down  his  buoyant  affections.  His  daily 
food  might  have  been  denied  his  body,  but  his  soul  sat 
at  a  perpetual  banquet,  and  he  drank  daily  of  the 
streams  that  flow  forth  from  that  living  fountain  which 
is  at  God's  right  hand.  He  felt  no  want.  Read  his 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  and  judge  whether  these 
statements  are  not  true.  Would  you  think  it  was  writ- 
ten in  bonds  and  from  a  prison  ]  It  is  one  continued 
and  lofty  strain  of  pastime  and  triumph.  Would  you 
suppose  that  the  man  who  composed  this  letter,  was 
in  instant  expectation  of  being  carried  out  to  suffer  a 
violent  death  ?  There  is  not  one  complaint,  or  request, 
or  the  expression  of  a  single  fear,  in  the  whole  of  it. 

Nothing  is  more  frequently  a  stimulus  to  duty  than  a 
consideration  of  our  privileges.  That  which  comforts, 
excites.  Who  can  contemplate  great  benefits,  without 
wishing  to  be  interested  in  them,  and  without  efforts  to 
make  his  interest  in  them  sure  1  Think  then  of  the 
happiness  of  God's  people. 

They  are  happy  in  consideration  of  what  God  has 
already  done  for  them.  He  has  done  great  things  for 
them,  whereof  they  should  be  glad.  His  own  Son  and 
Spirit  he  has  given,  one  to  die  for  them,  and  the  other 
to  seal  them.     Jesus  Christ  is  of  God,  made  unto  them 


190  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  and  redemption. 
The  consideration  of  what  God  has  done  for  them, 
should  make  them  happy,  because  it  is  a  token  of  the 
value  he  sets  upon  them,  and  a  proof  of  the  tender 
regard  he  has  for  them,  and  especially  because  it  is  a 
pledge  of  what  he  will  do  for  them  in  all  future  dura- 
tion. So  argue  the  inspired  writers,  *'  If  God  spared 
not  his  own  Son,  but  delivered  him  up  for  us  all,  how 
shall  he  not  with  him,  freely  give  us  all  things'?"  "He 
that  hath  begun  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perform  it, 
until  the  day  of  Jesus  Christ."  In  giving  them  the 
Spirit,  he  has  given  them  "  the  earnest  of  the  heavenly 
inheritance."  They  may  reason  from  what  he  has 
done,  to  what  he  will  do.  Having  not  withheld  his 
Son,  he  will  withhold  no  good  thing.  Having  given 
them  grace,  he  will  give  them  glory.  Having  pur- 
chased them  at  so  great  a  price,  he  will  never  give  up 
the  possession  of  them.  They  cost  him  more  than 
the  universe  of  creatures  could  offer  for  one  of  them. 
"Being "now  justified  by  his  blood,  we  shall  be  saved 
from  wrath  through  him." 

They  have  abundant  cause  to  be  happy,  in  view  of 
what  God  is  to  them.  He  is  their  God.  The  self- 
existent,  eternal,  immutable,  almighty  Jehovah,  is 
their  God ;  not  as  he  is  the  God  of  others,  but  by  a 
peculiar  relation  to  them.  He  is  their  God  as  he 
was  Abraham's.  He  is  related  to  them  by  covenant. 
He  is  bound  to  them  by  promise.  He  is  the  preserver 
of  all  men,  but  especially  of  them  that  believe.  To 
them,  alone,  has  he  pledged  his  blessing,  and  made 
over  his  attributes.     They  alone,  can  say,  "  God  is  our 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  191 

refuge  and  strength.  The  Lord  is  our  Shepheid."  It 
is  only  in  consequence  of  this  peculiar  relation,  that 
one  can  say,  "  Oh,  God,  thou  art  my  God.  The  Lord 
is  my  rock,  and  my  fortress,  and  my  deliverer,  my  God, 
my  strength,  in  whom  I  will  trust,  my  buckler,  and  the 
horn  of  my  salvation,  and  my  high  tower."  Others 
have  their  gods  in  whom  they  put  their  trust,  and  from 
whom  they  seek  their  happiness,  but  none  of  them  is 
like  unto  the  God  of  Jeshiraon.  They  can  neither  hear 
nor  save;  "but  our  God  is  in  the  heavens,  he  hath 
done  whatsoever  he  hath  pleased."  "  Happy  is  that 
people  that  is  in  such  a  case ;  yea,  happy  is  that 
people  whose  God  is  the  Lord."  For  this  compre- 
hensive reason  they  are  happy.  How  could  they  be 
unhappy  1  How  could  they  want  any  good  thing  ? 
But  in  particular. 

They  are  happy  because  they  are  specially  vinder  the 
divine  protection.  The  eternal  God  is  their  refuge. 
They  love  the  privilege  of  flying  to  him,  in  every  time 
of  alarm,  and  from  every  species  of  danger ;  and  they 
always  find  his  arms  open  to  receive  them,  and  his 
omnipotence  ready  to  defend  them.  "  The  name  of  the 
Lord  is  a  strong  tower  ;  the  righteous  runneth  into  it 
and  is  safe."  "  Because  they  make  the  I^ord  their 
refuge,  even  the  Most  High  tlieir  habitation,  there  shall 
no  evil  befall  them."  "  He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret 
place  of  the  Most  High,  shall  abide  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Almighty."  And  Oh,  how  much  they  need  a 
refuge.  How  often  they  have  occasion  to  fly  (o  some 
place  of  safety  without  themselves.  How  many  dangers 
beset  them.    How  many  foes  assail  them.    What  terrors 


192  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

they  often  experience.  How  unsafe  and  unhappy  we 
all  sometimes  feel  ourselves  to  be.  The  principal  thing 
from  which,  as  sinners,  we  need  a  refuge,  is  the  justice 
of  God,  which  pursues  us  on  account  of  our  sins,  and 
most  righteously  requires  our  blood.  This  is  the  chief 
danger  to  which  we  are  exposed.  Where  shall  we  find 
safety  from  the  pursuit  1  From  this  and  from  every 
danger,  God  in  Christ,  is  the  believer's  refuge.  He 
fleeth  unto  him,  and  is  safe,  even  from  his  wrath. 
From  the  pursuit  of  justice,  he  flies,  through  the  veil 
that  was  rent,  into  the  most  holy  place,  made  accessible 
by  the  blood  of  Jesus — he  takes  hold  of  the  mercy-seat, 
which  that  blood  propitiated,  and  from  which  no  soul 
was  ever  dragged  to  be  executed.  The  same  mercy- 
seat  is  the  place  where  conscience,  no  less  than  divine 
justice,  beholds  a  perfect  satisfaction.  Verily,  the  good 
man  has  a  shelter  in  reserve  from  the  storms  of  adver- 
sity. He  has  an  ark  prepared  against  the  deluge  of 
fire.  He  has  a  safe  spot  to  resort  to,  when  the  elements 
shall  melt,  and  the  earth  be  undergoing  its  dissolution. 
But, 

They  are  happy  because  they  love  God  for  their  sure 
support.  "Underneath  them  are  the  everlasting  arms." 
"How  can  they  sink  with  such  a  propi"  What 
burden  can  be  equal  to  this  support  ?  What  weight  can 
be  laid  upon  them,  that  can  countervail  the  strength  of 
these  everlasting  arms  1  Under  all  the  actual  calam- 
ities of  life,  and  possible  trials  of  death,  cannot  these 
arms  bear  them  \xp1  Christian,  dost  thou  not  feel  a 
courage  to  meet  them  all,  if  thou  mayest  have  this 
support,  these  arms  placed  underneath  thee  1     If  thou 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  193 

art  an  Israelite  indeed,  thou  shalt  have  it.  Hast  thou 
not  already  had  it  in  some  measure  1  Hast  thou  not 
been  supported  beyond  the  strength  of  nature,  and  the 
power  of  philosophy  to  support  thee  in  thy  past  trials  1 
Wouldst  thou  not,  on  many  occasions,  have  sunk,  as 
some  have,  if  it  had  not  been  for  these  everlasting 
arms  1  Well,  thou  shalt  have  the  same  sure  support  in 
all  time  to  come.  "  He  hath  said,  I  will  never  leave 
thee,  nor  forsake  thee — as  thy  day  is,  so  shall  thy 
strength  be — he  shall  deliver  thee  in  six  troubles,  and 
in  seven  there  shall  no  evil  touch  thee."  In  view  of 
every  danger  thou  hast  to  meet,  of  every  enemy  thou 
hast  to  encounter,  and  of  every  trial  thou  mayest  be 
called  upon  to  endure,  in  view  of  pain,  sickness,  and 
bereavement,  in  the  appalling  prospect  of  death,  and 
the  convictions  of  the  last  day,  and  the  tremendous 
judgment,  he  says  to  thee,  "  Fear  thou  not,  for  I  am 
with  thee,  be  not  dismayed,  for  I  am  thy  God.  I  will 
strengthen  thee,  yea,  I  will  help  thee,  yea,  I  will  up- 
hold thee  with  the  right  hand  of  my  righteousness." 
"  When  thou  passest  through  the  waters,  I  will  be  with 
thee  ;  and  tlirough  the  rivers,  they  shall  not  overflow 
thee  ;  when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thou  shalt 
not  be  harmed,  neither  shall  the  flame  kindle  upon 
thee."  And  thou  mayest  say,  "  Though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil.  Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me." 
Happy  art  thou,  O,  Christian,  "  who  is  like  thee,  O, 
saved  of  the  Lord." 

Passing  by,  for  brevity's  sake,  several  considerations, 

illustrative  of  the  happiness  of  God's  people,  take  one 

17 


194  SELECT    REMAINS     OF 

more  particular.  They  are  happy,  and  there  are  none 
like  them,  in  view  of  what  God  will  do  for  them  here- 
after. What  will  he  do  for  them  1  I  will  tell  thee 
what  he  will  do  for  them,  if  thou  wilt  tell  me  what  he 
will  not  do  for  them.  What  will  he  not  do  for  them, 
having  already  done  so  much,  and  having  done  it  for 
them  when  they  were  enemies,  what  will  he  not  do  for 
them,  now  that  they  are  friends  1  Having  exercised 
all  hountifulness  towards  them,  whilst  there  was  much 
in  them  to  disapprove,  what  will  he  not  do  for  them, 
when  they  shall  be  objects  of  unmixed  complacency  ] 
Having  begun  in  such  munificence,  will  he  not  only 
maintain  it,  but  according  to  his  usual  method,  pro- 
ceed to  something  yet  vastly  greater  ?  Is  there  any 
thing  too  great  or  too  glorious  to  expect  from  that  love 
of  God,  whose  first  fruit  was  the  gift  of  his  Son  ?  What 
will  he  not  do  for  them  in  answer  to  the  prayers,  and 
in  remembrance  of  the  sufferings  of  that  Son,  and  for 
his  sake  1  How  inestimably  precious  must  be  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints,  if  it  bears  any  proportion  to  the 
price  at  which  it  was  purchased. 

We  know  not  what  God  will  do  for  his  people.  We 
know  we  are  now  the  sons  of  God  ;  but  what  we  shall 
be,  doth  not  yet  appear.  Yet  this  we  know,  we  shall 
be  like  Christ.  We  know  that  being  children,  we  are 
heirs  of  God,  joint  heirs  with  Christ ;  but  what  the 
inheritance  is,  we  know  not,  only  that  it  is  incorrupti- 
ble, undefiled,  unfading.  Yes,  we  do  know  in  general, 
that  "  he  that  overcometh,  shall  inherit  all  things." 
We  know  that  God  has  made  great  preparations  for 
those  that  love  him ;  but  the  nature  of  the  joys  and 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  195 

glories  we  know  not.  Eye  hath  not  seen  any  resem- 
blance of  them ;  ear  hath  not  heard  any  description  of 
them  ;  nor  have  they  in  any  wise  entered  the  heart  of 
man.  We  know  not  wliat  heaven  is  ;  but  we  know 
that  there  is  no  night  there,  no  pain,  no  sorrow,  for  God 
shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  all  faces  ;  the  wicked 
shall  cease  from  troubling ;  the  weary  shall  be  at  rest  ; 
yea,  more,  shall  drink  in  pleasures  for  ever  more  at 
God's  right  hand. 


THE  SAINT    AND    THE    SINNER. 

If  Christ  should  say  to  the  wicked  as  to  the  right- 
eous, on  the  last  day,  "  I  was  an  hungered,  and  ye  gave 
me  meat ;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye  gave  me  drink,"  &c., 
they  would  not  ask,  "when  saw  we  thee  hungry  *?"  &c. 
They  would  think  themselves  deserving  of  the  com- 
mendation ;  for  they  always  contended  that  they  had 
good  hearts  and  loved  Christ.  Just  so  it  is  now.  His 
enemies  most  confidently  and  strenuously  assert  that 
they  do  love  him,  while  his  friends  are  very  suspicious 
of  themselves,  often  doubt  whether  they  do  love  him, 
and  are  always  slow  to  declare  it,  and  when  they  do, 
it  is  always  with  regret  that  they  love  him  so  little. 

Christians  wonder  why  they  should  be  saved.  Sin- 
ners wonder  why  they  should  not  be  saved.  The  sinner 
asks,  "What  have  I  done  1"     The  Christian,  "What 


196  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

have  I  not  done'?"  The  sinner  says  he  does  the  best 
he  can.  The  Christian  knows  he  does  not.  Who  was 
it  that  said,  "Behold,  I  am  vile?"  Was  it  Saul,  Judas, 
or  Jeroboam  1  No.  It  was  Job,  "  a  perfect  and  an 
upright  man,  one  that  feared  God  and  eschewed  evil." 

The  habits  of  the  evangelically  righteous  man  are 
holy  ;  his  sins  are  but  occasional  acts,  contrary  to  his 
fixed  habits  ;  whereas,  with  the  unregenerate,  it  is  just 
the  reverse.  He  may  do  good  actions,  but  his  habits 
are  sinful.  The  Christian  acts  out  of  character  when 
he  sins  ;  but  when  the  other  sins,  he  acts  in  character. 
With  the  former,  sin  is  a  digression  ;  with  the  latter, 
it  is  the  main  stay.  The  one  walks  in  the  ways  of 
obedience,  though  he  is  guilty  of  occasional  aberra- 
tions ;  the  other  walks  in  the  ways  of  disobedience 
habitually.  Devotion  is  with  the  Christian  a  habit, 
though  he  be  sometimes  indevout ;  so  is  trust  in  God, 
though  he  sometimes  distrust  him  ;  so  is  the  strictest 
sobriety  and  the  severest  rectitude,  though  he  may 
occasionally  be  betrayed  into  acts  that  are  opposed  to 
these  virtues. 

It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  if  the  sinners  are  not 
out  of  their  senses,  the  saints  are.  There  is  madness 
somewhere.  If  Festus  was  not  beside  himself,  Paul 
certainly  was.  The  one  party  or  the  other  is  dream- 
ing.    Who  is  it  ?     Paul  or  Festus  1 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D,  197 


REFLECTION. 

I  suppose  one  important  distinction  of  the  present 
world  from  the  future,  to  consist  in  the  power  we  have 
now  of  hiding-  from  the  truth — of  selecting  certain  sub- 
jects of  meditation,  and  excluding  others — in  short,  in 
flying  from  thought.  Hereafter  it  will  not  be  so.  Then 
thought  will  overtake  the  fugitive  from  it.  An  eternity 
of  reflection  is  coming  after  this  life  of  action.  Oh, 
God,  when  man,  thy  creature,  shall  be  laid  under  the 
arrest  of  his  own  thoughts,  when  thou,  by  the  simplest 
action  on  his  memory,  shalt  set  all  his  sins  in  order 
before  him,  even  as  they  are  now  in  the  light  of  thy 
countenance  1****1  purposely  leave  the  sentence 
incomplete. 


SENSE    OF    GUILT. 

The  sense  of  criminality,  of  which  all  men  have 
experience,  the  feeling  of  being  in  fault,  of  being  to 
blame,  is  unlike  every  other  feeling.  Of  all  feelings, 
it  is  the  most  painful,  it  is  the  least  supportable.  Phi- 
losophy may   assist  the  soul   to  bear  up   under  other 

pains  ;  but  she  affords  no  support  to  those  who  suffer 

17* 


198  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

under  this.  And  Christianity  can  afford  no  relief  to  the 
sense  of  guilt,  but  by  that  wonderful  expedient  through 
which  she  removes  it.  How  different  this  feeling  from 
the  sense  of  loss,  the  sense  of  disappointment,  the  feeling 
of  bereavement.  These  are  painful.  It  is  painful  to  be 
bereaved  of  good,  to  pass  from  prosperity  to  adversity, 
to  experience  in  any  respect,  a  reverse  of  fortune  ;  but 
how  inexpressibly  more  painful  it  is  when  one  has  to 
reflect  that  himself  is  the  culpable  cause  of  the  change. 
How  it  adds  to  the  weight  of  misfortune  and  calamity, 
when  one  is  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  he  has  crimi- 
nally brought  it  on  himself.  There  is  scarcely  any 
thing  that^a  man  cannot  have,  if  he  may  but  reflect 
that  it  is  not  of  his  own  procuring.  But  all  support  is 
withdrawn,  when,  of  any  evil  he  is  enduring,  it  may  be 
asked,  "hast  thou  not  procured  this  unto  thyself?"  and 
he  is  unable  to  deny  it.  The  bitterest  ingredient  in  the 
cup  of  perdition,  will  be  the  consciousness  of  its  victim 
that  he  himself  has  mingled  that  cup.  The  thought 
of  heaven  would  not  be  so  painful  to  the  hopeless  in- 
habitant of  hell,  were  it  not  for  the  accompanying 
reflection,  "I  too  might  have  been  there — that  heaven 
was  open  to  me,  and  I  might  have  entered  it — nothing 
kept  me  out  of  it  but  my  own  will — this  wicked  heart." 
There  will  be  that  feeling  in  every  lost  soul :  "  I  am 
here,  because  I  would  be  here ;  I  am  suffering  the  con- 
sequences of  my  own  free  choice  ;  I  am  eating  the  fruit 
of  my  own  voluntary  doings." 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.   D.  199 


THE    IMPENITENT    MISERABLE    OF 
NECESSITY. 

It  is  no  disparagement  of  God's  omnipotence  that  he 
cannot  make  a  sinner  forever  happy  for  two  reasons. 
First,  he  cannot  do  what  he  cannot  will  to  do,  what  his 
moral  perfections  forbid  to  will  to  do.  He  cannot  make 
the  depraved  heart  happy,  while  it  continues  depraved, 
for  the  same  reason  that  he  cannot  lie.  There  is  another 
reason  why  he  cannot  do  it,  because  it  is  repugnant  to 
the  nature  of  things.  He,  cannot  make  a  sinful  heart 
happy,  for  the  same  reason  that  he  cannot  make  matter 
think,  while  it  remains  matter  ;  for  the  same  reason  he 
cannot  make  his  own  nature  mortal. 

At  the  judgment,  every  sinner  will  be  speechless, 
and  confounded,  and  not  from  intimidation,  but  from 
conviction.  That  silence  and  confusion  will  not  be 
produced  by  any  array  of  terror,  by  any  display  of  mere 
power,  but  by  the  clear  exhibition  of  truth.  Nor  will 
the  truth  exhibited,  be  any  thing  new  and  before  un- 
discoverable,  but  the  very  truth  that  now  lies  neglected 
on  the  pages  of  the  sacred  volume.  But  then  it  will 
be  more  distinctly  displayed,  and  the  attention  of  every 
mind  will  be  fixed  upon  it,  and  it  will  make  the  impres- 
sion of  itself,  which  now,  for  the  most  part,  it  does  not, 
though  it  be  cursorily  contemplated  sometimes.  Tlie 
truth  remaining  the  same,  and  the  sinner  the  same,  his 
misery  will  eternally  be  necessary.  "  Hell  is  the  truth 
seen  too  late." 


200  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

There  is  no  suffering  like  that  which  has  its  source  in 
the  mind.  All  suffering  has  its  seat  there.  But  some 
has  its  source  there.  The  pain  of  sensation  is  not  to 
be  spoken  of  in  comparison  of  the  pain  of  reflection. 
Nothing  hath  such  an  edge,  nothing  such  a  point  as 
thought,  memory,  consciousness,  anticipation.  There 
are  no  feelings  of  anguish  like  those  which  sometimes 
stand  connected  with  these  mental  operations.  No 
knife  cuts  so  keen  as  reflection,  no  dart  pierces  so  deep, 
no  fire  burns  so  fierce.  We  are  sometimes  asked,  if  in 
our  opinion  the  punishment  of  sense  constitutes  any 
part  of  the  retribution  of  the  lost,  and  especially  if  we 
suppose  there  will  be  the  presence  and  action  of  ma- 
terial fire  on  the  miserable  subjects  of  perdition.  We 
may  answer  these  questions,  by  ourselves  asking,  What 
if  there  be  no  punishment  of  sense,  no  action  of  material 
fire  1  What  is  gained  to  the  mind  by  that  admission  1 
There  will  be  at  least  the  punishment  of  thought^  the 
action  of  immaterial  fire.  There  will  be  the  truth, 
intended  by  such  figures  as  these, — "  snares,  fire,  brim- 
stone, and  an  horrible  tempest."  There  will  be  that  to 
the  mind,  which  fire  is  to  the  body — the  remembrance 
of  a  lost  heaven,  a  neglected  soul,  a  slighted  Saviour. 
And  the  soul  will  receive  within  itself,  a  restless,  corro- 
ding something,  which  will  be  to  it  the  worm  that  dieth 
not.  Even  here,  in  this  childhood  of  our  existence,  and 
in  this  world  of  mercy  and  hope,  it  is  not  unfrequently 
a  man's  most  impassioned  and  earnest  prayer,  that  he 
may  be  saved  from  his  own  thoughts  and  reflections. 
In  the  short  space  of  some  twenty,  thirty,  or  fifty  years, 
men  often  come  to  dread  no  being  so  much  as  them- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  201 

selves,  and  to  deprecate  no  society  so  much  as  self-com- 
munion, and  to  fear  no  reproaches,  like  those  which  are 
whispered  from  within.  And  we  know  to  what  expe- 
dients they  often  resort  to  forget,  and  as  it  were,  escape 
from  themselves.  Did  you  ever  think  what  sort  of  an 
eternity  must  lie  before  such  persons,  when  the  object 
of  their  disgust  and  dread  shall  be  ever  near  them, 
under  their  eye,  when  all  their  employment  shall  be 
thinking,  and  the  subject  themselves  ;  when  no  opiate 
can  drown  reflection,  and  the  maddening  inebriation  of 
the  mind,  will  be  only  such  as  is  consistent  with  the 
most  vivid  impressions  of  the  past,  and  the  clearest 
perceptions  of  the  future. 

When  pain  of  body  is  suffered,  there  is  refuge  and 
support  in  the  mind  ;  but  when  the  mind  itself  is  writh- 
ing in  agony,  from  the  cruel  thrust  of  some  thought,  the 
deep  piercing  of  some  remembrance,  or  from  that  gnaw- 
ing, called  remorse,  there  is  nothing  back  of  the  mind 
to  take  refuge  in.  The  Christian  from  his  mental 
sorrows  has  a  refuge  in  God.  But  the  sinner  has  none. 
The  Christian  has  underneath  him  the  everlasting 
arms.  But  the  sinner  has  nothing  under  him  for  sup- 
port. This  is  what  is  meant  when  it  is  said,  "  The 
spirit  of  a  man  will  sustain  his  infirmity  ;  but  a  wound- 
ed spirit  who  can  bearl"  May  you  never  know  how 
insupportable  such  a  spirit  is  !  A  soul  stung  by  itself 
— a  soul  its  own  accuser,  executioner,  and  enemy — a 
soul  whose  reflections  and  anticipations  are  so  many 
envenomed  arrows.  The  accusations  and  reproaches 
of  all  other  beings  are  less  to  be  dreaded,  than  those  you 
may  heap  on  yourself.     It  were  better  that  every  other 


202  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

intelligence  should  be  acquainted  with  your  sins,  than 
that  they  should  be  known  to  your  conscience  ;  better 
they  should  be  emblazoned  on  every  other  record,  yea, 
written  in  flowing-  capitals,  and  exhibited  to  the  whole 
universe,  than  that  they  should  be  remembered  by 
yourself. 


DELAY. 


"  I  am  waiting,"  says  the  sinner.  For  whom  does 
he  wait  1  For  God  1  God  is  ready  for  him.  Waiting ! 
What  folly  to  wait  for  one's  self  to  act ! 

Every  sinner  being  dependant  on  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  for  a  disposition  to  embrace  the  Gospel  offer ;  it 
cannot  be  safe  for  him  to  delay  his  surrender  to  Christ, 
except  on  this  condition,  that  God  agrees  to  it.  If  he 
agrees  to  a  postponement,  let  it  be  so.  But  where  has 
he  given  his  consent  1  Has  he  not,  on  the  contrary, 
threatened  most  severely  all  who  hesitate  1 

He  is  in  a  sad  way,  whose  income  never  met  his 
expenses,  and  whose  expenses  are  daily  becoming 
greater,  while  his  income  is  daily  becoming  less.  It  is 
just  so  with  every  sinner  who  defers  repentance.  He 
is  like  a  man  unskilled  to  swim,  who  is  by  every  step  he 
takes,  going  further  from  the  shore,  and  into  water  of 
greater  depth,  besides  becoming  every  moment  more 
and  more  exhausted, — the  man  plunges  on,  while  ten 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  203 

thousand  voices  on  the  shore,  call  and  conjure  him  to 
stop  and  turn ;  and  that  which  calls  loudest,  and  con- 
jures most  earnestly,  is  the  voice  of  God:  "Turn  ye, 
turn  ye,  for  why  will  yc  die.  As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord, 
1  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth;  but 
that  he  turn  from  his  wicked  way  and  live." 

What  can  exist  hereafter,  that  does  not  now  exist,  to 
give  sinners  the  disposition  to  repent  1  What  induce- 
ment will  there  be  that  is  not  now]  Circumstances 
may  indeed  change.  Adversity  may  overtake  a  man. 
He  may  be  sick — he  may  be  afflicted,  and  he  may  feel 
himself  to  be  drawing  near  to  death,  and  under  these 
circumstances,  he  may  have  some  inclination  to  reli- 
gion, which  he  has  not  now.  But  it  is  not  every  kind 
of  inclination  to  the  subject,  that  will  answer  the 
purpose.  A  man  may  have  a  disposition  to  be  saved, 
yet  no  disposition  to  trust  in  Christ.  Now  the  former 
without  the  latter  is  of  no  avail.  The  awakened 
sinner  has  some  disposition  towards  religion,  yet  how 
long  he  remains,  notwithstanding  this,  without  the 
willingness  to  be  a  Christian;  and  sometimes  dies  with- 
out it.  So  sometimes  the  sinner  on  his  death  bed,  is 
exceedingly  solicitous  about  his  salvation,  and  it  seems 
as  if  there  was  nothing  he  would  not  do  to  secure  it, 
and  yet  after  all,  he  is  not  willing  to  give  his  heart  to 
God.  Perhaps  if  any  sinner  were  sure  of  dying  in  a 
day,  he  would  have  some  disposition  towards  religion. 
And  yet  with  this  certainty  of  death  before  him,  he 
might  be  as  far  from  the  right  disposition  towards 
religion  as  he  is  now.  Every  sinner  is  dependant  on 
God  for  the  disposition  that  availeth.     He  never  will 


204  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

have  It  until  God  give  it  to  him.  Make  his  circum- 
stances ever  so  favorable,  and  still  it  does  not  exist. 
The  heart  did  never  originate,  and  will  never  originate 
this  disposition.  It  must  come  from  God ;  and  "  He 
has  mercy  on  whom  he  will  have  mercy." 

He  knows  not  what  he  does,  who  puts  off  repentance 
from  the  certain  present,  to  the  uncertain  .future  ;  or  if 
he  knows,  he  does  a  deed  of  daring,  which  would 
signalize  the  most  nefarious  spirit  in  the  dark  domin- 
ions of  eternal  death. 

To-morrow  exists  not  but  in  anticipation.  It  is  but 
the  reflection  of  time — the  shadow  of  a  day,  that  recedes 
continually  as  we  advance,  till  it  is  lost  in  eternity. 
To-day  is  all  of  time  that  we  have. 

Should  any  ask,  how  long  a  time  it  will  require  to 
make  up  the  mind  rationally,  deliberately,  and  fully,  to 
embrace  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour?  I  answer,  just 
as  long  as  it  takes  a  drowning  man  to  make  up  His 
mind  to  let  go  the  little  twig  which  he  has  in  his  hand, 
and  lay  hold  on  the  spar  that  ie  thrown  out  to  save 
him. 

Delay  is  refusal ;  and  refusal  is  base  ingratitude  ; 
and  ingratitude  is  full  of  danger.  When  men  say,  we 
will  repent  and  be  reconciled  to  God  by  and  by,  they 
say  we  will  not  repent  and  be  reconciled.  All  honest 
purposes  of  repentance  relate  to  the  present  time. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  205 


PRIDE. 

The  will  of  God  appoints  the  measure  of  understand- 
ing, wealth,  power,  beauty,  pleasure,  and  influence, 
which  each  shall  have.  Here  is  an  abiding  and  un- 
answerable reason  why  none  should  glory  and  none 
should  envy. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  evinces  the 
unreasonableness  of  both  pride  and  discontent.  It  is 
that  men  are  not  proprietors,  but  stewards,  holding 
whatever  they  have  in  trust,  to  be  accounted  for  to 
God.  Therefore,  the  man  who  boasts  of  his  superior 
endowments,  does  in  effect,  boast  of  the  heavier  account 
he  will  have  to  render,  and  is  virtually  proud  of  the 
more  aggravated  condemnation  to  which  unfaithfulness 
will  subject  him.  And  the  discontented  does  as  really 
lament  that  he  has  no  more  onerous  burden  laid  upon 
him,  no  more  goods  to  give  account  of,  and  that  un- 
faithfulness in  employing  his  talents,  will  only  expose 
him  to  a  comparatively  light  condemnation.  It  would 
be  quite  as  reasonable  for  men  of  great  endowments  to 
murmur  against  the  Almighty  Dispenser,  and  to  be 
envious  and  discontented,  because  they  are  placed  over 
so  much,  as  for  men  more  moderately  endowed,  to  do 
the  same,  because  they  are  placed  over  so  little  ;  inas- 
much as  it  is  certainly  more  easy  to  be  faithful  in  few 
than  in  many  things,  and  the  precious  reward  of  faith- 
fulness in  every  case,  however  small  the  trust,  is  ever- 
lasting life,  and  an  entrance  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord. 

18 


206  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


PRIDE    AND    HUMILITY. 

Never  do  human  pride,  self-conceit,  contempt  of 
others,  arrogant  pretensions,  high  thoughts,  and 
haughty  demeanor,  appear  so  hateful  and  hell  de- 
serving, as  when  we  place  them  in  contrast  with 
the  humility  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Who  art  thou,  O  proud  man  1  "A  worm  and  no  man," 
not  even  worthy  of  the  name  of  man,  since  you  have 
become  a  sinner — a  worm  taken  out  of  the  dust,  and 
crawling  through  it,  to  return  into  it — a  poor,  exposed, 
dependant,  feeble,  timid,  mortal  creature — aching,  toss- 
ing, weeping,  mourning,  decaying,  dying — to-day  thou 
art  this,  and  to-morrow  thou  must  be  dead,  and  for  thy 
death  mayest  be  indebted  to  the  meanest  insect  that 
flies  the  air — thy  noise  all  stilled,  thy  dignity  brought 
down  to  the  dust,  thy  beauty  marred,  and  thou  a  mass 
of  matter  unsightly  and  offensive.  With  all  thy 
courage,  thou  durst  not  say  this  shall  not  be  thy  end 
to-morrow.  In  intellect  too,  how  weak  and  erring — 
how  little  thou  knowest,  and  even  that  little,  how 
easily  it  may  be  lost ;  and  the  mind  that  is  now  so 
proud  of  its  powers  and  acquisitions,  sink  into  hopeless 
idiocy.  And  thy  heart,  the  worst  part  of  thee,  deceitful 
above  all  things  and  desperately  wicked — thy  inward 
part,  very  wickedness,  whose  excesses  it  takes  Omnipo- 
tence to  restrain,  and  so  defiled,  that  God  alone  can 
purify  it — ^imsusceptible  of  improvement,  it  must  be 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  207 

made  anew.  And  thy  whole  nature,  a  slave  of  many- 
petty,  cruel  tyrants — thy  lusts.  Where  hast  thou  ma- 
terials for  a  crown  of  pride  1 


UNBELIEF 


It  is  a  solemn  fact,  that  we  cannot  reason  away  un- 
belief. It  is  often  impossible  to  convince  a  man  of  the 
sinfulness  of  that  which  is  agreeable,  and  the  rectitude 
of  that  which  is  inconvenint.  And  he  may  be  con* 
vinced,  and  yet  not  do  the  right,  nor  avoid  the  wrong, 
either  as  having  no  inclination,  or  having  a  sort  of 
inclination,  he  may  yet  feel  he  is  in  bondage  to  evil, 
unable  to  do  the  good  he  would.  There  is  a  moral 
servitude  and  impotence,  not  inconsistent  with  respon- 
sibility and  blame. 


WORLDLINESS. 

So  entirely  are  the  most  of  mankind  taken  up  with 
this  visible  world,  that  if  there  should  come  to  them  the 
infallible  assurance  that  there  exists  no  other  world, 
they  would  not  have  to  modify  their  plans,  or  alter  their 


208  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

pursuits  at  all,  to  conform  them  to  the  new  and  dismal 
information. 

In  the  decalogue  of  this  world,  one  of  the  chief  com- 
mandments is,  "Do  as  others  do,  and  as  the  generations 
past  have  done,"  It  tolerates  no  reformers — it  listens 
to  no  innovations.  It  cannot  away  with  non-conform- 
ists to  its  establishment.  The  slightest  punishment 
ever  inflicted  for  such  transgression,  is  taunt  and  scorn, 
combined  with  a  malignant  pity. 

What  faith,  and  perseverence,  and  firmnesss,  were 
required  in  Noah,  as  he  laboriously  worked  at  the  ark, 
exposed  to  the  insults  and  sneers  of  the  unbelieving 
population  that  surrounded  him,  without  ever  once 
doubting  the  divine  word,  or  giving  over  his  work,  or 
ceasing  to  warn  the  obstinate  and  ungrateful  multitude. 
And  it  requires  scarcely  less  of  these  virtues  in  a  dis- 
ciple of  Christ  in  our  day,  to  go  steadily  forward  in 
the  firm  belief  of  things  unseen  and  far  distant,  in  a 
steadfast  adherence  to  the  person  and  interests  of  the 
Saviour,  in  opposition  to  the  flood  of  worldliness  around 
him. 


ANIMOSITY. 


To  remember  that  we  have  often  injured  ourselves 
far  more  than  others  have  injured  us,  ought  very  much 
to  moderate  our  animosities  towards  each  other.     If  we 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  209 

must  hate  and  be  indignant,  let  our  greatest  enemy 
receive  the  full  weight  of  our  vengeance,  and  that  in 
all  cases  is  self. 


IDOLATRY. 


The  idolatry  of  some  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  con- 
sisted in  worshipping  the  image  that  fell  from  Jupiter, 
The  idolatry  of  many  in  our  day,  consists  in  worship- 
ping the  image  that  fell  from  God. 


PERVERSITY. 

It  would  be  strange  if  some  were  serious  ;  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  voluntarily  put  themselves 
end  so  unfavorable.  It  would  be  strange  if  they  were 
saved,  since  they  do  so  much  not  to  be.  Many  act  as 
if  their  grand  anxiety  were  "what  must  we  do  not  to 
be  saved?" 

18* 


210 


SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


INTEMPERANCE. 

I  ventured  to  tell  a  man  a  few  months  since,  who 
had  just  fallen  into  habits  of  intemperance,  that  if  he 
did  not  reform  forthwith,  he  would  speedily  ruin  him- 
self, soul  and  body,  but  he  did  not  believe  it,  yet  he  is 
dead  of  drink  already. 

The  evil  and  painful  effects  of  intemperance,  do  not 
constitute  the  penalty  of  the  law  against  that  sin. 
"The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die,"  points  to  the 
penalty. 


EVIL    SPEAKING. 

Perhaps  no  single  cause  contributes  more  to  banish 
the  Spirit  of  God  from  the  houses  and  hearts  of  men 
than  evil  speaking.  There  are  sins  of  more  flagrant 
enormity,  but  what  sin  is  more  extensively  diffused  '? 
Evil  speaking  !  Who  is  without  sin  in  this  respect  1 
How  common  it  has  become.  How  much  of  it  there 
is  every  day — every  where — in  the  city  and  in  the 
country — at  home  and  abroad — in  every  large  con- 
course— and  in  every  little  company,  and  even  in  the 
soliloquy  of  the  closet.     Who  is  not  among  its  actors 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  211 

and  its  objects  1  We  sacrifice  others  on  this  cruel  altar, 
and  then  we  ourselves  become  its  cruel  victims.  How 
easily  we  slide  into  this  sin. 


APPLAUSE. 


The  tooth  of  slander  conceals  a  virulence  that  may- 
poison  a  reputation  which  a  whole  life  has  been  spent 
in  earning.  The  applause  of  the  world  !  A  breath 
expires  it ;  and  how  often  does  the  returning  inspira- 
tion reclaim  it. 


NOVEL  READING  AND  THEATRES. 

I  cannot  conceive  that  man,  whose  twofold  business 
it  is  to  earn  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow,  and  to 
work  out  his  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,  ought 
to  have  much  to  do  with  those  tales  of  chivalrous 
adventure,  moving  incident,  and  high  wrought  fanciful 
love,  which  so  much  abound.  Tlie  didactic,  rather 
than  the  romantic,  befits  human  life.  Though  your 
pleasure  be  connected  with  light  and  airy  fancy,  your 
interest  lies  in  heavy  facts. 


212  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

How  often  are  persons  heard  to  say  of  certain  amuse- 
ments or  employments  of  questionable  propriety,  that 
they  are  sure  they  receive  no  injury  from  them,  how- 
ever it  may  be  with  others.  But  how  came  they  to 
the  knowledge  of  this  fact  1  And  why  do  they  speak 
so  positively  1  They  may  not  be  conscious  of  the 
injury,  and  yet  it  may  be  received.  True,  the  amuse- 
ment or  emplo5^ment  in  question,  may  not  maim  any 
member  of  the  body — may  not  infuriate  any  passion  of 
the  heart ;  but  how  can  they  say  that  it  does  not  exert 
any  evil  influence  on  the  easily  susceptible  and  finely 
fibred  soul  1  This  is  not  a  matter  to  be  decided  by 
feeling.  Take  for  illustration,  the  habit  of  attending 
upon  theatrical  amusements,  or  the  practice  of  romance 
and  novel  reading.  Many  contend  that  both  of  these 
are  harmless.  Without  attempting  now  to  prove  their 
hurtfulness,  (though  I  firmly  believe  it)  it  may  be  con- 
fidently asserted,  that  their  hurtfulness  or  innocence 
cannot  be  determined  by  the  feelings  of  persons,  while 
thus  employed.  The  question  can  only  be  determined 
by  inquiring  into  the  nature  and  tendencies  of  these 
things,  and  by  carefully  investigating  the  character 
formed  under  such  influences.  If  the  scenes  presented 
and  sentiments  expressed  at  a  theatre,  or  in  an  amatory 
novel,  can  be  proved  to  have  a  tendency  to  injure  the 
soul,  (and  what  is  more  susceptible  of  injury?)  it  is 
absurd  to  say  that  they  do  not  injure  any  particular 
individual.  They  do ;  but  here  is  the  secret  of  the 
matter.  They  injure  in  a  way  which  the  individual 
not  only  is  not  conscious  of,  but  cares  nothing  about. 
For  example,  they  kill  the  spirit  of  devotion,  estrange 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  213 

the  soul  from  God,  neutralize  and  secularize  the  mind, 
not  affecting,  perhaps,  the  morals  of  the  life,  but  cor- 
rupting^ the  morals  of  the  heart,  and  hardening  it,  not 
to  every  kind  of  impression,  but  to  the  peculiar  impres- 
sions of  religion.  For  the  heart  may  be  all  alive  to 
some  kinds  of  good  feeling,  such  as  friendships  and 
pity,  while  it  is  as  dead  as  death  itself  to  other  kinds  of 
praiseworthy  emotion,  such  as  the  love  of  God  and  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Now  what  do  the  great  multitude  care 
for  such  effects  as  these,  even  should  they  admit  them 
to  be  produced'?  Nothing.  Therefore  they  resort  to  the 
theatre  and  devour  romances. 


PERVERSIONS. 

How  many  are  guilty  of  the  folly  of  regarding  priv- 
ileges as  pledges — present  favors  as  earnests  of  future 
blessedness.  They  suppose  that  there  is  no  danger  of 
God's  changing  his  method  of  dealing  with  them — that 
being  so  indulgent  to  them  now,  he  will  never  cease  to 
be  so.  They  forget  the  difference  between  probation 
and  retribution.  They  forget  that  "there  are  first,  that 
shall  be  last,"  and  that  some  "  who  are  exalted  to 
honor,  shall  be  cast  down  to  hell." 

You  cannot  scourge  yourself  into  the  favor  of  God, 
nor  emaciate  yourself  into  acceptance  with  him. 


214 


SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


Men  are  often  willing  to  do  towards  securing  salva- 
tion, more  than  is  required  of  them,  if  they  but  be 
permitted  to  do  it  according  to  their  own  mind  and  in 
their  own  manner.  They  are  agreed  to  strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate,  if  they  may  do  it  in  their  own 
way.  It  is  not  to  the  amount,  but  to  the  nature  of  the 
requisitions  of  the  Gospel,  that  they  are  averse.  They 
are  ready  to  make  sacrifices  of  property  and  personal 
comfort,  to  almost  any  extent,  if  these  things  may  but 
be  the  price  of  their  redemption. 


SELF-DECEPTION. 

It  is  a  melancholy  and  mortifying  fact,  that  men,  not 
only  may  be  and  often  are  deceived,  but  may  and  often 
do,  deceive  themselves.  The  cheat  and  dupe  is  fre- 
quently the  same  identical  individual.  And  greater  is 
the  danger  of  self-deception,  than  of  deception  from  any 
other  source.  The  world  is  deceitful — riches  are  deceit- 
ful— the  devil  is  deceitful,  but  the  heart  is  decitful 
above  all  things.  We  are  liable  to  be  imposed  on  by 
other  intelligent  beings.  We  are  still  more  exposed  to 
imposition  from  ourselves. 

How  many  hopes  are  built  on  the  wreck  of  the  Bible. 

Strange  that  any  should  content  themselves  with  the 
mere  profession  and  form  of  Christianity,  when  so  large 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  215 

a  part  of  our  Lord's  instructions  are  intended  to  show 
the  fallacy  of  hopes  having  no  better  basis. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  imitate  Christianity  so  far  as  to 
deceive  others.  Yea,  and  to  delude  our  own  souls  is 
perhaps  still  easier.  This  is  a  fearful  fact,  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  should  cause  every  one  to  look  well  to 
the  foundation  of  his  hopes. 

Scarcely  a  week  passes,  in  which  the  newspapers,  in 
their  obituary  notices,  do  not  express  sentiments,  from 
which,  if  true,  it  would  follow  conclusively,  that  the 
mission  of  the  Son  of  God  to  our  world,  and  especially 
his  death,  were  entirely  needless — sentiments  utterly 
subversive  of  the  Gospel,  and  yet  they  are  mistaken 
by  many  for  Christian  sentiments. 

Many  saw  Christ  on  earth,  who  will  never  see  him 
but  once  more,  when  he  shall  sit  upon  the  throne  of 
judgment ;  and  then  will  wish  they  might  not  see  him ; 
they  will  call  upon  the  rocks  and  mountains  to  fall  on 
them  and  hide  them  from  his  face. 

Self-knowledge  is  the  most  difficult  of  all  knowledge, 
and  self-government  the  most  difficult  of  all  govern- 
ment. 

It  is  sometimes  said  of  one  that  he  has  a  good  heart, 
although  his  life  is  very  far  from  being  good ;  as  if  it 
were  probable  that  such  evil  should  proceed  from  a 
good  heart — such  corrupt  streams  flow  from  a  pure 
fountain. 

Oh,  ye,  who  go  lazily  and  luxuriously  along,  ye  will 
never  enter  heaven  at  that  rate. 

It  is  wonderful  how  easily  men  are  persuaded  that  all 
will  be  well  with  them  hereafter.     They  are'  satisfied 


216  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

that  they  shall  be  happy  forever,  on  evidence  that 
would  not  satisfy  them  of  the  certainty  of  any  other 
thing-  whatsoever.  They  often  build  their  hopes  of 
heaven  on  a  foundation,  which  they  would  not  trust 
for  one  of  all  their  worldly  expectations. 

I  have  sometimes  thought  if  the  Young  Ruler  (see 
Matt,  xix,  16 — 22,)  had  only  lived  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  how  differently  he  would  have  been  treated  by 
our  ecclesiastical  authorities.  They  would  not  have 
sent  him  away ;  they  are  too  anxious  to  make  disciples, 
and  too  accommodating  in  their  terms.  If  he  had  come 
with  the  inquiry,  "What  lack  I  yetl"  to  one  church, 
they  would  have  told  him  that  nothing  was  wanting 
but  to  be  of  their  communion.  If  he  had  applied  in 
another  quarter,  he  would  have  heard  this  soothing 
reply  to  his  question,  "  Why  give  yourself  all  this 
anxiety,  young  man  1 — why  make  all  this  ado  1 — you 
are  all  that  God  requires  you  to  be — there  never  was 
a  more  blameless  young  man — or,  if  you  do  come 
short  in  any  particular,  he  is  a  merciful  being,  he  will 
certainly  overlook  your  failings — you  have  nothing  to 
fear — he  never  made  you  to  be  damned."  Probably 
he  might  have  gone  still  further  with  his  question, 
before  he  would  have  received  a  scriptural  answer  to  it. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  217 


"AN  HONEST  MAN  IS  THE  NOBLEST  WORK 
OF  GOD." 

What !  Honesty  the  perfection  of  virtue  ?  What  ! 
Is  that  the  noblest  creature  of  God,  which  is  consistent 
with  the  most  consummate  selfishness,  and  which  may 
exist  in  unjarring  harmony  with  impiety  towards  God 
and  cruelty  towards  men*?  Is  rigid  justice  in  one's 
dealings  with  his  fellow-creatures,  the  highest  excel- 
lence of  moral  character  ?  Why,  it  is  the  lowest  on  the 
list  of  the  virtues.  It  is  no  compliment  to  a  man  to  say 
that  he  is  honest,  because  it  is  so  shameful  to  be  other- 
wise ;  and  to  say  it  of  the  dead,  as  the  most  that  can 
be  said  of  them,  is  very  much  like  an  insult  to  their 
memory.  Such  feeble  praise  is  heavy  censure.  He  must 
be  poorly  off  for  virtues,  who  boasts  of  his  honesty.  But 
let  it  be  understood,  as  the  poet  hath  said,  ihat  honesty 
is  the  perfection  of  virtue,  and  we  know  the  conse- 
quence. Most  men  are  satisfied  to  approach  perfection. 
To  be  all  but  the  noblest  work  of  God,  they  think  is 
doing  well ;  for  according  to  this  scheme,  the  man  that 
is  all  but  honest,  is  all  but  at  the  summit  of  virtue,  all 
but  the  noblest  work  of  God.  The  truth  is,  it  is  no 
very  great  doing,  to  give  every  man  his  legal  dues.  It 
is  our  duty,  and  our  glory,  and  our  happiness,  to  give  to 
others  much  more  than  their  dues. 


19 


218  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


INFLUENCES. 

The  man  who  is  exposed  to  evil  influences,  who  sees 
evil  example,  who  imbibes  erroneous  doctrine,  who 
frequents  evil  places,  and  keeps  evil  company,  is  not 
the  only  man  whose  last  state  is  worse  than  the  first. 
It  is  a  certain  fact,  with  which  every  moral  agent 
should  be  acquainted,  that  a  man  may  grow  worse  and 
worse,  more  guilty  and  more  depraved,  under  the  most 
benign  and  blessed  influences  to  which  the  human 
character  can  be  exposed ;  and  his  progress  to  evil  will 
seem  even  to  be  accelerated  by  such  influences.  The 
case  of  Judas  Iscariot,  is  a  striking  proof  and  melan- 
choly illustration  of  the  truth  of  this  assertion,  which 
may  seem  to  some  an  incredible  paradox,  Judas  walk- 
ed in  the  light  of  the  highest  example  that  ever  shone 
upon  earth.  Such  men  as  John  and  his  fellow  apostles 
were  his  companions.  Such  places  as  the  garden  of 
Gethsemane  were  his  resorts.  Such  families  as  that  of 
Lazarus  and  his  two  sisters  he  visited.  Such  sounds  as 
those  of  prayer  and  praise  he  habitually  listened  to. 
He  heard  the  Gospel  from  him,  in  whose  breast  the 
grace  that  originated  it  dwelt,  and  who  spake  as  never 
man  spake.  He  witnessed  daily  deeds  of  benevolence. 
He  inhaled  the  most  healthful  atmosphere,  and  listened, 
and  moved,  and  had  his  being  amid  the  most  benignant 
influences.  And  yet  what  became  of  him  all  know,  a 
traitor,  a  deicide  ;  worse  than  he  would  have  become 
if  thieves  had  been  his  companions,  and  murder  and 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  219 

rapine  his  employ ;  a  more  depraved  and  guilty  being 
than  he  could  have  become  under  any  other  supposable 
circumstances.  And  why  1  Because  he  carried  and 
cherished  in  his  heart,  and  would  by  no  means  part 
with  one  depraved  disposition — accursed  covetousness, 
which  defeated,  yea,  vitiated,  in  their  effect  on  him,  all 
good  influences. 


WHERE    ARE    YOU    GOING? 

How  common  is  it  among  men  to  desire  to  know 
what  is  thought  of  them  by  their  friends  and  acquain- 
tances ;  and  if  their  name  has  been  carried  across  the 
waters,  and  to  distant  countries,  they  feel  a  desire  to 
know  whether  it  is  well  or  ill  esteemed.  Strange  then 
that  men  should  feel  so  little  interest  in  ascertaining 
whether  the  family  in  heaven,  the  innumerable  com- 
pany of  angels,  and  the  just  men  made  perfect,  have 
ever  hailed  and  in  songs  celebrated  their  repentance. 
Why  have  men  no  curiosity  to  know,  especially,  in  what 
estimate  they  are  held  by  the  blessed  Trinity  *?  Many 
seem  not  to  care  whether  He  smiles  or  frowns,  whose 
smile  is  heaven,  and  whose  frown  is  hell. 

Oh,  the  strange  infatuation  of  men!  What  will  be 
the  next  news  from  Europe  ?  Whicli  way  the  price 
of  some  staple  commodity  is  likely  next  to  fluctuate? 
Who  will  next  be  the  chief  magistrate  ? — are  the  ques- 


220  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

tions  which  interest  most  men.  But  where  are  they 
g-oing-  to  pass  their  immortality  ]  What  is  to  be  their 
state  forever  1  Whether  are  they  maturing  for  heaven 
or  hell  1 — are  uninteresting  inquiries. 

We  need  not  travel  to  the  pole  to  ascertain  how  it 
points — the  little  needle  of  the  compass  tells  us.  Nor 
need  we  look  at  the  sun  to  find  its  place  in  the  heavens 
— the  dial  plate  can  tell  ns.  So  is  the  heart  to  him 
that  studies  it,  the  index  of  the  direction  and  destiny  of 
the  soul. 


DEATH-BED    REPENTANCE. 

As  for  that  sorrow  and  regret  which  is  felt  by  the 
rich  and  dying,  let  it  not  be  mistaken  for  repentance. 
It  proves  nothing".  It  is  a  miserable  hope  that  is  built 
upon  it.  No  man  has  any  assurance  that  since  the 
foundation  of  the  world,  more  than  one  man,,  repenting 
thus  late,  repented  savingly ;  for  the  dying  man  has  no 
opportunity  to  "bring  forth  fruits  meet  for  repentance," 
and  only  "  by  their  fruits  shall  ye  know  them." 

Perhaps  nothing  would  more  strikingly  illustrate  the 
deceitfulness  of  sin,  than  the  perversion  thereby  pro- 
duced, in  regard  to  future  repentance.  It  tells  how 
many  excellent  opportunities  there  will  be  for  repen- 
tance in  the  progress  of  life,  seasons  of  afiiictions, 
periods  of  leisure,  occasions  of  sickness,  and  what  a 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  221 

golden  time  the  last,  the  sickness  that  shall  be  unto 
death,  will  afford,  what  a  glorious  opportunity  then,  in 
the  midst  of  medicines,  and  in  the  company  of  nurses, 
and  physicians,  and  pastors,  when  there  is  necessity  to 
constrain,  and  agony  to  urge  on,  and  no  world  to 
attract,  no  friend  to  oppose,  no  formidable  cross  to  take 
up,  but  death  is  in  near  view  and  everything  favorable! 
The  poor  sinner  is  made  to  think  a  return  of  the  Pente- 
cost would  hardly  equal  such  a  time  in  advantages  for 
repentance  !  He  forgets  that  the  soul  is  not  merely 
bound  with  filaments — that  there  are  chains  to  be 
broken.  He  forgets  that  in  making  peace  with  God, 
the  divine  consent  and  concurrence  are  as  necessary  as 
his.  He  forgets  too,  that  true  repentance  is  not  a  mere 
sorrow,  and  that  there  is  a  sorrow  for  sin,  for  which  hell 
is  a  penitentiary. 

There  is  among  the  realities  of  this  world,  what 
answers  to  that  which  in  the  parable  of  the  virgins  is  set 
forth  in  figure.  A  person,  he  may  be  one  of  those  who 
have  borne  the  lamp  of  the  Christian  profession,  and 
gone  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom,  makes  in  one  of  his 
last  hours,  perhaps  his  very  last,  the  painful  discovery 
that  he  has  no  grace  in  his  heart.  What  shall  he  do  1 
His  mind  is  now  awake.  But  the  approach  of  death 
has  already  been  announced ;  and  the  cry,  "  he  cometh, 
he  cometh,"  has  been  reiterated  in  his  ears,  and  he 
hears  the  fatal  foot-fall  at  hand.  What  shall  he  dol 
He  has  no  time  to  lose.  He  applies  to  those  around 
him;  but  all  the  help  they  can  afford  is  friendly  counsel 
— "  go  buy  ;"  and  he  hastily  goes  ;  and  with  tears  and 

sighs  he  asks  for  the  holy  oil  ;  and  he  offers  the  world, 
■  19* 


222  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

upon  which  he  has  now  no  claim ;  and  he  proposes  to 
give  his  all,  which  is  now  nothing ;  and  he  enlists  as 
many  as  he  can  in  his  behalf;  but  death,  inexorable, 
uncourteous,  intrusive  death  supervenes,  and  draws  his 
impervious  curtain  around  the  scene  ;  and  he  is  gone  ! 
Friendship,  thinking  that  importunity,  that  prayer, 
and  that  warmth  and  earnestness,  the  effect  of  love's 
enkindlement  in  the  heart,  calls  these  exercises,  re- 
ligion ;  and  supposes  that  the  flown  spirit  has  found 
easy  and  abundant  entrance  through  an  ample,  and 
wide,  and  open  door.  But  it  is  to  be  feared  he  found 
the  door  shut.  He  slept  too  long.  He  began  too  late. 
He  was  in  earnest — he  lost  not  a  moment ;  but  it  was 
too  late  when  he  began.  Ah,  that  noise  and  bustle,  that 
the  fearful  soul  makes  on  the  eve  of  its  departure,  about 
its  salvation,  I  place  little  dependance  upon.  It  is  thus 
that  animal  feelings  when  highly  excited,  exhibit  them- 
selves. All  this  may  occur,  and  yet  the  Holy  Spirit  be 
afar  off. 


CONVERSION. 

The  subject  of  a  sudden  and  instantaneous  conver- 
sion has  given  rise  to  much  debate.  The  whole  difli- 
culty  that  has  been  gathered  around  this  subject,  may 
be  removed  by  making  one  obvious  distinction.  Con- 
version is  sudden,  is  instantaneous ;  but  religion,  piety. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  223 

or  sanctijicationy  is  progressive.  In  other  words,  religion 
is  progressive,  but  the  first  step  in  that  progression  is 
instantaneous. 

I  have  long  since  ceased  to  marvel  at  the  doctrine 
of  regeneration. 


FAITH. 


That  any  individual  may  have  the  benefit  of  the 
provisions  of  the  Gospel,  a  personal  act  or  exercise  on 
his  part  is  indispensable.  "  Whosoever  drinketh  of  the 
water  that  I  shall  give  him,  shall  never  thirst."  Not  if 
it  be  provided,  not  if  it  be  set  before  him,  shall  he  be 
secured  against  future  thirst ;  but  if  he  drink  of  it.  So, 
"the  Gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  to  every 
one  that  believeth.^'  And,  "  to  as  many  as  received  him, 
to  them  gave  he  power  to  become  the  sons  of  God." 
And  "  whosoever  eateth  my  flesh  and  drinketh  my  blood 
hath  eternal  life;"  but  "except  ye  eat  the  flesh  and 
drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  man,  ye  have  no  life  in 
you."  "These  things  are  written  that  ye  might  believe 
that  Jesus  is  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing, 
ye  might  have  life  through  his  name."  "  By  him,  all 
who  believe  are  justified  from  all  things."  "  In  Christ 
Jesus,  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor  un- 
circumcision,  hut  faith,  which  worketh  by  love." 


224  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

It  then  appears  that  a  personal  act  is  necessary ;  not 
many  acts,  either  ceremonial,  or  moral,  or  both,  as 
some  vainly  suppose,  but  one  act.  Our  salvation  does 
not  depend  on  our  doing  many  things.  That  is  the 
imagination  of  self-righteousness.  "  Herod  did  many 
things,"  but  he  did  not  do  rightly  one  thing.  And  this 
is  necessary  on  the  same  principle,  and  for  the  same 
reason  that  drinking  is  necessary  in  order  that  water 
may  allay  one's  thirst.  The  requisition  is  no  more 
arbitrary  in  the  one  case,  than  it  is  in  the  other.  The 
necessity  in  either  case  is  equally  absolute.  The  act  of 
believing  can  no  more  be  dispensed  with  in  the  one 
case,  than  the  act  of  drinking  in  the  other.  A  thirsty 
man  is  not  beneficially  effected  by  water,  however 
abundant  it  may  be,  however  accessible  it  may  be, 
except  he  drink  of  it ;  neither  is  a  lost  man  benefitted 
by  the  great  salvation  of  the  Gospel,  except  by  faith  he 
receive  it.  Of  what  advantage  is  a  fountain  of  water 
to  him  who  does  not  drink  of  it  1  Of  what  advantage 
an  atonement  for  sin  to  him,  who  does  not  appropriate 
it  to  himself  1  Drinking  is  as  necessary  to  allay  thirst, 
though  not  in  the  same  sense,  as  water  is.  So  faith  is 
as  necessary  to  the  salvation  of  any  individual,  as  the 
work  and  passion  of  Christ  Avere.  A  man's  thirst  is 
allayed  by  drinking,  as  really,  though  not  in  the  same 
sense,  as  by  water.  So  a  sinner  is  saved  as  really,  yet 
in  a  different  sense,  by  believing,  as  by  the  righteous- 
ness of  Christ.  Hence,  we  are  said  to  be  justified  by 
faith,  as  one  is  said  to  be  refreshed  by  drinking,  the 
act  of  receiving  being  put  for  the  thing  received.  So  it 
is  said,  "  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee," — "  thy  faith  hath 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  225 

made  thee  whole."  There  is  no  help  for  a  man  suffering 
under  thirst,  if  he  refuses  to  drink.  So  there  is  no  help 
for  the  sinner,  who  refuses  to  receive  Christ.  The  man, 
in  the  case  supposed,  as  certainly  dies  of  thirst,  as  if 
there  was  no  water.  So  the  sinner  as  certainly  perishes, 
as  if  there  was  no  Saviour,  and  no  atonement.  He 
perishes,  however,  under  different  circumstances,  and 
all  that  is  peculiar  in  his  circumstances  goes  to  aggra- 
vate his  perdition.  He  perishes  within  sight  and  even 
within  reach  of  the  Saviour.  If  he  would  but  look,  he 
should  live.  His  own  perverseness  destroys  him.  His 
obstinacy  is  his  ruin.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  lie  down 
by  a  fountain  to  die  of  thirst.  He  dies  under  circum- 
stances the  most  aggravating.     So  dies  the  sinner. 


FAITH    AND    PRACTICE. 

Men  love  to  suppose  that  they  are  irresponsible  for 
their  faith — that  inclination  has  nothing  to  do  in  the 
matter,  but  evidence  every  thing.  Ah,  if  it  be  so,  how 
comes  it  to  pass,  that  we  so  uniformly  find  the  worst 
practice  in  connexion  with  the  worst  belief?  If  belief  is 
decided  altogether  by  evidence,  how  happens  it  that 
those  who  act  most  iniquitously,  uniformly  believe  most 
erroneously  1  According  to  this  theory,  bad  men  ought 
to  be  found  with  as  correct  views  as  good  men.       I  like 


226  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Christ's  account :  "  Light  has  come  into  the  world,  and 
men  loved  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their 
deeds  were  evil." 


REPENTANCE. 

No  one  denies  that  some  sinners  ought  to  be  ashamed 
of  themselves,  as  for  example,  liars,  thieves,  adulterers, 
adulteresses,  hypocrites,  the  dishonest,  the  ungrateful, 
and  many  more.  But  I  affirm  that  all  sinners  have 
reason  to  be  ashamed  of  themselves,  and  that  the 
course  they  all  pursue  is  dishonorable  and  degrading. 
The  blush  equally  as  the  tear  becomes  every  sinner. 
To  look  back  on  the  past  with  shame,  no  less  than  with 
sorrow,  behooves  him.  If  he  have  no  cause  to  be 
ashamed  before  men,  yet  he  has  great  cause  to  be 
ashamed  before  God.  If  we  need  not  blush  for  our 
treatment  of  our  fellow-creatures,  yet  ought  we  not  to 
blush  for  our  treatment  of  our  God  and  Saviour  1  All 
true  penitents  do  blush  as  well  as  weep.  They  are 
ashamed  as  well  as  grieved  for  the  things  they  have 
done.  Was  it  not  so  with  the  publican,  who  neither 
looked  up,  nor  approached  the  place  where  those 
esteemed  worthy  worshippers  stood  1  Was  not  Job 
ashamed,  when  he  said,  "  Behold  I  am  vile,  what  shall 
I  answer  thee  1 — I  will  lay  mine  hand  upon  my  mouth 
— I   abhor   myself,    and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes"? 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  227 

Hear  Ezra  too,  "  Oh  my  God,  I  am  ashamed,  and 
and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  to  thee,  my  God  ;  for  our 
iniquities  are  increased  over  our  head,  and  our  trespass 
is  grown  up  unto  the  heavens."  Daniel  said,  "  Oh, 
Lord,  righteousness  belongeth  unto  thee,  but  unto  us 
confusion  of  face,  because  we  have  sinned  against 
thee."  Ezekiel,  speaking  of  the  repentance  of  Judah, 
says,  "  Then  shalt  thou  remember  thy  ways,  and  be 
ashamed ;  and  I  will  establish  my  covenant  with  thee, 
that  thou  mayest  remember  and  be  confounded,  and 
never  open  thy  mouth  any  more  because  of  thy  shame, 
when  I  am  pacified  towards  thee,  for  all  that  thou  hast 
done,  saith  the  Lord  God."  And  again,  "  Then  shall 
ye  remember  your  own  evil  ways  and  your  doings  that 
were  not  good,  and  shall  loathe  yourselves  in  your  own 
sight,  for  your  iniquities  and  for  your  abominations. 
Not  for  your  sakes,  do  I  this,  saith  the  Lord  God,  be  it 
known  unto  you :  be  ashamed  and  confounded  for  your 
own  ways,  O  house  of  Israel."  Paul  also  says,  that  his 
brethren  to  whom  he  writes,  in  Rom.  vi,  21,  are  now 
ashamed  of  unprofitable  things  previously  done  by 
them.  If  the  sense  of  shame  for  having  sinned,  be  not 
felt  now,  it  certainly  will  be  hereafter.  David  in 
speaking  of  the  resurrection  says,  "  Some  shall  awake 
to  everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting 
contempt."  The  sense  of  shame  will  be  one  ingredient 
in  the  perdition  of  the  ungodly.  There  will  be  the 
burning  blush,  as  well  as  the  scalding  tear. 


228  SELECT  REMAINS  OF 


"AND  THE  LORD  TURNED  AND  LOOKED 
UPON  PETER." 

He  uttered  no  word — he  made  no  sign — he  simply- 
looked — the  eye  of  the  disciple  met  the  eye  of  the 
Lord,  and  it  was  enough,  I  dare  not  attempt  to  de- 
scribe what  that  countenance  expressed,  and  what  that 
steadfastly  fixed  eye  conveyed.  No  language  can  set 
it  forth — no  pencil  has  power  to  represent  it.  It  was 
not  one  simple  expression.  It  was  not  reproof  alone, 
nor  was  it  all  pity,  nor  all  indigntion,  nor  all  sorrow, 
but  a  mingling  of  many  emotions  into  one  compound 
expression.  It  chided,  it  convinced,  it  pitied,  it  la- 
mented, it  invited,  it  subdued.  Peter  understood  its 
manifold  meaning,  and  felt  its  mighty  power.  Its 
eloquence  was  irresistible.  Its  pathos  pierced  his  very 
soul.  It  was  a  look  of  mild  upbraiding  :  "  Thou  dost 
not  know  me,  Peter  ! — me,  thy  Lord,  whose  glory  thou 
sawest  on  the  mount ;  whose  sorrow  thou  didst  witness 
in  the  garden.  Didst  thou  not  know  me  then  1  Was 
it  not  thou,  that  saidst  a  little  while  ago,  that  thou 
wast  ready  to  lay  down  thy  life  for  me  1"  It  expressed 
a  deep  sense  of  injury.  "  And  thou,  Peter,  art  thou 
too  among  mine  enemies  1 — hast  thou  also  taken  side 
against  me  1 — did  I  deserve  this  at  thy  hands'?"  It 
was  a  look  of  compassion.  It  seemed  to  say,  "Poor 
unhappy  Peter,  alas !  what  hast  thou  done  1 — how  thou 
hast  wounded  thy  own  soul  ! — what  work  for  repent- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  229 

ance  thou  hast  made!"  It  did  not  indignantly  repel 
him.  It  did  not  say,  "  I  disown  thee,  as  thou  hast  done 
me.  I  cast  thee  off  from  me  now,  and  I  will  deny  thee 
before  my  Father."  It  seemed  to  say,  "  Notwithstand- 
ing thy  perfidy,  I  have  still  a  place  left  for  thee  in  my 
heart,  if  thou  wilt  return  to  me.  I  will  still  own  thee, 
though  thou  hast  disowned  me.  Go  and  commune 
with  thy  heart  on  what  tliou  hast  done."  There  was 
also  power  in  that  look  of  Christ.  It  convinced,  it 
melted,  it  overcome  him  quite.  Grace  went  with  it  to 
his  heart.  And  Peter  remembered  the  word  of  the 
Lord:  (how  astonishing  that  he  should  have  forgotten  it 
until  now).  The  tender  scene  that  had  taken  place  in 
the  communion  chamber,  his  promises  and  his  protes-- 
tations,  all  rushed  into  his  mind  at  once,  and  he  went 
out  and  wept  bitterly. 


WHAT    WE    HOPE    FOR. 

Think  not,  ye  whom  God  has  called  by  his  word  and 
Spirit  out  of  the  community  of  the  world,  that  the 
object  of  your  vocation  is  mere  service  or  mere  suffer- 
ing. It  is  true  you  are  called  to  serve  and  to  suffer, 
but  you  are  also  called  to  enjoy.  Are  you  acquainted 
with  the  labors  of  your  calling,  and  the  trials  of  your 
calling,  you  should  also  know  "  the  hope  of  your  call- 
ing."    Light  is  the  task  imposed  upon  you,  and  it  is 

20 


230  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

soon  performed ;  and  short,  though  sharp  it  should  be, 
is  the  trial  ye  have  to  undergo.  What  are  these  to  the 
exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory,  which  these  not 
only  precede,  but  work  for  you,  "  I  reckon  that  the 
sufferings  of  this  present  time  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed  in  us." 
*'  When  Christ,  who  is  our  life,  shall  appear,  then  shall 
ye  also  appear  with  him  in  glory."  "  For  our  conver- 
sation is  in  heaven,  from  whence  also  we  look  for  the 
Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  shall  change  our 
vile  body,  that  it  may  be  fashioned  like  unto  his  glorious 
body;  then,  this  corruptible  having  put  on  incorruption, 
and  this  mortal  immortality,  shall  be  brought  to  pass 
the  saying  that  is  written,  "  Death  is  swallowed  up 
in  victory."  "  There  remaineth  a  rest  for  the  people  of 
God ;  there  is  no  night  there  ;  the  Lamb  that  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  throne,  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead 
them  to  fountains  of  living  waters  ;  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  O,  Christians,  "know 
what  is  the  hope  of  your  calling." — and  yet  it  passeth 
knowledge.  "  It  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be 
— eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  heart  conceived, 
what  God  hath  prepared  for  them  that  love  him." 
Peter  speaks  of  the  object  of  the  lively  hope,  as  an  in- 
heritance incorruptible,  undefiled,  uiifading,  reserved 
in  heaven  for  us.  John  says,  "We  shall  be  like  him." 
Paul  says,  "We  shall  be  ever  with  the  Lord."  And 
the  Psalmist  testifies,  "  In  his  presence  is  fulness  of 
joy,  and  at  his  right  hand  are  pleasures  forevermore." 
Jesus  himself,  says,  "  I  give  vmto  thee  eternal  life — I 
appoint  unto  you  a  kingdom — ye  shall  sit  with  me  on 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  231 

my  throne."  Hereunto  are  ye  called.  And  ye  should 
know  it,  that  ye  may  admire  and  celebrate  the  good- 
ness and  grace  of  Him  who  hath  called  you  into  his 
eternal  glory  by  Christ  Jesus.  Ye  should  know  it,  that 
ye  may  derive  consolation  in  every  sorrow,  and  support 
under  every  trial.  Ye  should  know  it,  that  the  prospect 
may  animate  and  inspirit  you  for  every  service  and 
every  suffering ;  and  that,  forgetting  the  things  that 
are  behind,  ye  may  press  towards  the  mark  for  the 
prize  of  your  high  calling.  In  short,  ye  should  know 
what  is  the  hope  of  your  calling,  that  ye  may  walk 
worthy  of  it.  Know  then  this  hope,  and  forego  every 
other  expectation,  and  reckon  every  other  object  of 
pursuit,  in  comparison  with  this,  inferior,  yea,  base  and 
unworthy  of  you. 


LOVE. 


Religion  is  the  most  excellent  of  all  things.  Love  is 
the  most  excellent  of  all  exercises.  Religion  is  love. 
God  is  the  most  excellent  of  all  the  objects  of  love. 
And  religion  is  the  love  of  God. 

The  benevolent  spirit  of  the  Gospel  forgetteth  nothing 
but  itself. 

He  who  does  not  love  all  the  saints,  does  not  love 
any  of  them  aright.     If  one  loves  only  Christians  of 


232  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

one  denomination,  it  is  for  their  sectarianism,  and  not 
their  saintship.  The  image  he  loves,  is  not  Christ's, 
else  he  would  love  it  wherever  found. 


LOVE    AND    FEAR. 

If  we  may  be  cold  and  indifferent  towards  God,  Ave 
may  with  infinitely  more  propriety  be  so  towards  the 
whole  creation.  It  were  easier  to  prove  that  the  heart 
ought  to  be  engrossed  with  God,  and  exhausted  upon 
him,  so  as  to  be  incapable  of  excitement  from  any  other 
object,  than  to  prove  that  it  need  not  be  occupied  about 
him  at  all.  That  he  alone,  should  be  regarded,  and 
admired,  and  loved,  to  the  neglect  and  contempt  of  all 
creatures,  is  a  proposition  more  capable  of  being  main- 
tained, than  that  no  admiration  and  love  need  be  felt 
towards  him.  Not  that  it  is  right  in  fact,  to  be  unaf- 
fected by  things  around  us,  and  be  literally  affected 
only  by  the  character  of  God. 

Terror  may  frighten  us  into  a  forced  submission ;  but 
it  is  love  alone  to  which  the  soul  voluntarily  yields. 
Terror  may  attack  and  carry  the  citadel,  but  the  heart 
capitulates  to  love  alone.  Fear  may  induce  us  to  con- 
ceal our  enmity,  but  love  slays  it. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  233 


LOVE    AND    TRUTH. 

The  paramount  love  of  truth,  the  ingenuous  open- 
ness of  mind,  constitutes  the  true  nobility  of  nature, 
which  is  not  derived  by  blood,  nor  conferred  by  princes. 

I  would  not,  for  the  credit  of  all  Mr.  Pope's  poetry, 
have  been  guilty  of  being  the  author  of  those  two 
famous,  I  might  say,  infamous  lines,  in  which  he  speaks 
slightingly  of  truth. 

It  is  but  a  little  truth  that  we  get  by  intuition,  only 
the  axioms  of  science,  the  first  principles  of  knowledge. 
And  every  thing  beyond  intuition,  requires  study  and 
labor,  and  these  will  not  be  granted  without  an  ardent 
love  of  truth.  Men  of  the  greatest  minds  have  all  paid 
this  price  for  truth.  It  was  not  by  merely  looking  up 
to  heaven  and  listlessly  asking,  "  What  is  truth  ]"  that 
Newton  made  his  sublime  discoveries  in  astronomy.  Nor 
did  the  putting  of  that  question  once,  draw  forth  from 
the  mind  of  Locke,  the  principles  of  his  Essay  on  the 
Understanding.  Nor  did  one  interrogation  of  nature, 
reveal  those  secrets  which  Bacon  and  Boyle  have  com- 
municated to  the  world.  No  ;  they  repeated  the  ques- 
tions, they  studied,  they  implored,  they  waited,  they 
sought  for  truth  as  for  hid  treasure,  and  at  length  their 
faithfulness  and  perseverence  were  rewarded.  If  such 
men,  in  pursuit  of  such  truth  thus  acted,  shall  we 
expect  to  find  the  knowledge  of  God,  without  a  patient, 
and  industrious,  and  candid  course  of  inquiry,  renoun- 
cing prejudice,  and  imploring  light  from  God's  Spirit? 

20* 


234  SELECT    REMAmS    OF 


TRUTH    AND    CHARITY. 

The  spirit  of  Christianity  is  entirely  liberal  in  its 
desires,  prayers,  efforts,  and  communications,  but  not  of 
course  in  its  opinions  ;  for  there  is  no  room  for  liberaUty 
in  reference  to  these.  A  liberal  Christian,  if  the  term  be 
intended  to  characterize  him  with  respect  to  his  religious 
sentiments,  is  an  absurdity.  We  must  believe  accord- 
ing to  the  facts  and  evidence  within  our  reach.  What 
it  appears  to  us  that  the  scriptures  teach,  after  a  close 
and  prayerful  examination  of  them,  we  must  believe. 
And  were  our  hearts  enlarged  to  entertain  all  the 
charity  of  heaven,  it  could  not  alter,  and  it  ought  not  to 
alter,  our  belief.  Charity  can  never  affect  our  belief, 
but  by  first  affecting  the  things  believed.  We  can 
change  our  creed  only  by  changing,  what  is  manifestly 
impossible,  the  facts  and  truths  comprehending  our 
creed.  We  often  hear  it  said  by  men,  that  they  have 
charity  for  all,  meaning  thereby,  that  they  believe  all 
are  in  a  safe  condition  in  reference  to  a  future  state,  or 
that  those  who  live  under  the  influence  of  Paganism 
or  Mahomedanism,  are  about  as  well  off,  as  those  who 
live  under  the  Christian  system,  and  one  Christian  de- 
nomination scarcely  to  be  preferred  to  another.  Now 
whether  there  be  truth  in  this,  is  another  question ;  but 
there  is  certainly  no  charity  in  it.  There  may  be  charity 
in  connexion  with  this  belief.  But  there  may  be  quite 
as  much  in  connexion  with  the  opposite  belief.  Charity 
does  not  qualify  opinions,  but  affections  and  actions.    Feel 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  235 

charitably,  act  charitably,  think  truly.  If  one's  charity 
is  to  be  decided  by  his  own  opinions,  as  in  common  pur- 
lance,  liberal  or  illiberal,  then  what  was  he,  in  respect 
of  charity,  who  said,  "  Strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow  is 
the  way  that  leads  to  life,  and  few  there  be  that  find 
it."  Was  he  not  charitable,  yea,  charity's  self?  Yet  you 
see  what  an  opinion  he  expressed.  It  is  said,  "we  must 
have  charity :" — so  we  must,  else  with  all  things  beside, 
we  are  nothing ;  but  we  must  also  know  what  charity 
is.  Whether  is  not  he  more  charitable,  who  goes  and 
spends  his  life  and  employs  his  talents  in  the  self- 
denying  service  of  a  missionary  to  the  heathen,  even 
supposing  him  to  act  on  an  error  of  judgment,  than 
he  who  stays  at  home,  and  sitting  in  the  midst  of  his 
comforts,  proclaims  that  the  heathen  are  as  well  off 
without  the  Gospel  as  with  it  ?  I  cannot  help  deciding 
in  favor  of  the  former,  that  he  is  more  like  Paul, — like 
Jesus.  Ah,  it  is  easy  to  talk  charitably,  and,  (if  you 
like  the  language,)  to  think  charitably;  but  to  entertain 
charity  in  the  heart  and  to  enthrone  it  there,  and  from 
its  deep  impulses  to  act  and  to  endure,  with  constancy 
and  without  wearying,  therein  lies  the  diflliculty  of 
charity,  "  the  labor  of  love."  Paul  would  not  have 
been  considered  as  very  charitable  in  his  opinions  ;  but 
in  his  desires,  in  his  deeds,  and  in  his  ordinances,  what 
mere  mortal  ever  went  beyond  him. 


236  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


HEAVENLY-MINDEDNESS. 

Few  of  the  secular  duties  of  life,  lawfully  pursued, 
require  more  than  the  hands  and  the  occasional  atten- 
tion of  the  mind.  One  of  the  most  profoundly  meta- 
physical books  that  ever  was  written,  was  all  thought 
out  upon  a  shoemaker's  bench.  Might  not  that  mind 
have  been  in  heaven  1  As  to  those  things  (for  there 
are  such,)  that  cannot  properly  be  attended  to  without 
engrossing  the  whole  mind,  let  the  mind  for  the  time, 
be  given  to  them,  for,  if  lawful,  they  interrupt  not  the 
heavenly  conversation  more  than  sleep  does. 

It  requires  much  of  the  spiritual  mind  to  enable  one 
to  leave  this  world  without  regret,  and  enter  the  other 
without  fear. 

The  secret  of  enjoying  this  world,  is  in  having  the 
heart  fixed  upon  the  next.  So  strange  a  thing  is  this 
world,  that  if  you  look  to  it  for  satisfaction,  it  will  de- 
ceive and  disappoint  you  ;  but  if  you  look  away  from  it 
to  God,  it  will  pursue  you  with  blessings.  The  man, 
whose  hope  riseth  to  God,  hath  not  only  freed  himself 
from  its  tyranny,  but  hath  gained  an  absolute  dominion 
over  it ;  so  that  whether  it  smile  or  frown — whether  it 
gives  or  withholds,  it  is  all  the  same  with  him  who 
lives  upon  the  unfailing  promise  that  "  all  things  shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God." 

It  is  ignoble  in  you  to  be  greatly  pleased  with  the 
world.  You  are  living  below  the  privileges  of  your 
birth,  while  you  are  satisfied  with  these  paltry  things. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  237 

It  is  unworthy  in  you  thus  to  prefer  the  footstool  to  tlie 
throne — the  badge  of  servitude  to  the  crown  of  empire. 
It  is  doing  injustice  to  that  spirit  within  you,  which 
reckons  its  descent  from  God,  which  drew  its  first 
breath  from'  the  inspirations  of  the  Ahnighty,  and  Hves 
in  God,  to  present  it  with  these  vanities,  and  bid  it  be 
satisfied  with  a  heap  of  dust,  when  it  ought  to  have  a 
cluster  of  glories;  to  feed  it  with  the  poor  applause  of 
men,  when  it  covets  the  high  approbation  of  its  Maker ; 
to  reduce  it  to  the  lowness  of  worldly  pleasure,  when  it 
should  be  panting  after  the  pleasures  which  are  ever- 
more at  God's  right  hand. 


A    HOLY    LIFE. 

There  is  one  important  sense  in  which  the  evidences 
of  Christianity  are  not  wholly  independent  of  the 
character  of  its  professors.     John  xvii,  2L 

The  way  to  prove  to  men  the  reality  of  religion,  is  to 
let  them  see  its  moral  efficacy.  If  you  would  make  a 
salutary  impression  on  a  sinner,  you  must  first  make 
him  dissatisfied  with  himself.  This,  the  bare  incul- 
cation of  holy  doctrine  will  not  do.  But  the  exhibi- 
tion of  holy  practice  will  do  it.  If  Christian  holiness 
be  only  preached,  men  will  say,  it  is  unattainable — it  is 
an  impracticable  thing ;  but  if  it  be  exemplified,  this 
objection,  which  seems  as  a  coat  of  mail  to  conscience, 


238  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

is  set  aside ;  and  Christian  virtue  is  shown  to  be  attain- 
able, because  attained ;  and  seen  to  be  attainable — is 
felt  to  be  obligatory.  "  How  far  a  little  candle  sheds 
its  beams ;  so  shines  a  good  deed  in  a  naughty  world." 
A  good  character  emits  a  continued  stream  of  holy  light, 
teaching,  cheering,  impressing,  reproving  all  on  whom 
it  shines.  Evil  doers  who  hate  the  light,  find  it  far 
more  practicable  to  escape  from  the  truth  as  preached 
or  as  taught  in  Holy  Scripture,  than  as  it  is  lived  and 
acted  in  the  intercourse  of  good  men. 


KNOWLEDGE. 

It  is  remarkable  that  when  Paul  asked  but  one  thing 
for  his  Ephesian  converts,  that  one  thing  was  knowledge. 
Ephesians  i,  17.  In  another  place,  he  says,  "I  count 
all  things  but  loss,  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge 
of  Christ."  Solomon  says,  "  That  the  soul  be  without 
knowledge  is  not  good."  And  God,  by  Hosea,  com- 
plains that  his  "  people  are  destroyed  for  the  lack  of 
knowledge."  There  is  a  still  stronger  statement  on 
the  subject,  made  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself : 
"And  this  is  eternal  life,  that  they  might  know  thee,  the 
only  true  God  and  Jesus  Christ,  whom  thou  hast  sent." 
Again  it  is  predicted :  "  By  his  knowledge  shall  my 
righteous  servant  justify  many."  The  Scriptures  every 
where  attach  the  greatest  importance  to  knowledge; 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  239 

and  it  is  a  grand  commendation  of  them,  and  an  illus- 
trious proof  of  their  divinity.  This  is  right,  for  ex- 
perience and  practice  both  are  dependant  on  knowledge. 
That  cannot  be  felt  or  done,  which  is  not  first  known. 
There  may  be  knowledge  without  religion,  but  there 
cannot  be  any  true  religion  without  knowledge.  There 
may  be  a  foundation  without  anj^  superstructure  ;  but 
there  cannot  be  a  superstructure  without  a  fovnidation. 
Knowledge  is  the  foundation.  It  must  be  laid  first, 
though  it  were  as  well  not  laid,  as  not  built  upon  ;  yea, 
better  never  laid,  if  not  built  upon  ;  for  it  is  the  con- 
demnation of  some,  that  light  is  come  into  the  world. 
The  truth  had  better  never  be  held  than  held  in  un- 
righteousness. Knowledge  is  power  only  in  case  it  be 
applied.  Paul  did  well,  therefore,  to  ask  knowledge  for 
the  Ephesians.  He  knew  that  only  as  they  increased 
in  knowledge,  could  they  make  progress  in  holiness — 
that  only  as  they  knew  more  of  God,  could  they  ad- 
vance in  the  love  of  him — that  only  as  they  knew  more 
of  sin,  could  their  abhorrence  of  it  increase — and  that 
just  in  proportion  as  their  views  of  heaven  were  clear, 
would  its  attractions  be  felt  by  them,  and  their  affection 
set  on  things  above. 

But  there  was  another  and  stronger  reason  why  he 
asked  knowledge  for  them.  There  is  a  knowledge 
which  never  ends  in  mere  speculation — a  science  which 
no  one  ever  learns  without  reducing  it  to  practice — an 
illumination  of  the  xmderstanding,  which  is  always 
accompanied  with  a  renovation  of  the  heart  and  a 
purification  of  the  affections.  Yes,  as  there  is  a  knowl- 
edge, which  is  like  the  cold  light  of  the  moon,  so  there 


240  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

is  a  knowledge  which  is  like  the  radiance  of  the  sun, 
every  beam  as  warm  as  it  is  bright,  and  every  ray  as 
opposite  to  cold  and  death,  as  to  gloom  and  darkness. 
Sun  of  righteousness  !  such  is  thy  blest  radiance.  It 
irradiates  all  that  is  dark  !  It  enlivens  all  that  is  dull 
• — warms  all  that  is  cold — melts  all  in  us  that  is  hard, 
and  vivifies  what  is  dead.  There  are  lessons  which 
a  man  cannot  learn  without  the  help  of  his  heart.  In 
illustration  and  confirmation  of  this  doctrine,  it  is  said 
in  the  Scriptures,  "  he  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not 
God."  There  is  a  volume  of  instruction  in  that  short 
statement.  It  teaches  that  a  man  cannot  have  right 
apprehensions  of  God,  unless  he  has  right  affections  in 
exercise  towards  him.  No  wonder  they  have  erroneous 
notions  of  God,  who  love  not  his  character  so  far  as 
they  are  acquainted  with  it,  and  do  not  his  will  so  far 
as  they  know  it.  For  "  if  any  man  will  do  his  will,  he 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  Do  you  wonder  that  bad 
men  are  infidels  1  Is  it  strange  that  ambitious  men  are 
unbelievers?  "How can  ye  believe,  who  receive  honor 
from  one  another,  and  seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh 
from  God  only?" 

The  reason  men  have  so  little  faith,  is  that  they  have 
so  little  practice.  God  withholds  further  knowledge 
from  men,  because  they  already  knoiv  so  much  more 
than  they  do.  They  wish  to  leave  the  first  principles 
of  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  and  go  on  to  the  knowledge 
of  deeper  mysteries,  when  they  have  not  laid  the 
foundation  of  repentance  from  dead  works  and  of  faith 
towards  God.  There  is  no  more  important  act  of 
a  man,  than  his  coming  to  Christ.     It  is  the  act  on 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,  D,  D.  24l 

which  his  salvation  is  suspended.  Now  how  is  this  act 
brought  about '?  Hear  :  "  It  is  written  in  the  prophets, 
and  they  shall  be  all  taught  of  God.  Every  man, 
therefore,  that  hath  heard  and  hath  learned  of  the 
Father,  coineth  unto  me."  You  see  how  it  stands 
connected  with  knowledge.  Well  might  the  apostle 
express  his  affectionate  anxiety  for  the  Ephesians  in 
asking  further  such  knowledge.  It  was  virtually  ask- 
ing further  holiness,  and  indeed  every  thing.  What 
does  any  one  want  more,  than  that  wisdom  which  is 
from  above,  and  which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable, 
gentle,  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits,  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy? — a 
wisdom  of  which  the  very  beginning  is  the  fear  of  the 
Lord,  the  principle  of  all  holiness.  In  asking  for  them 
such  light,  he  asked  for  them  love  also.  This  is  moral 
wisdom. 


CONTROVERSY    AMONG    CHRISTIANS. 

There  are  other  reasons  why  Christians  should  pray 

that  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  should  send  forth  more 

laborers  besides  those  mentioned  by  Christ ;  and  among 

them,  I  reckon  this  one,  that  many  of  the  laborers  have 

left  off  work,  and  have  converted  the  field  of  labor  into 

an  arena  of  conflict.     They  are  using  their  implements 

of  husbandry  against  each  other.     Oh,  how  they  cut 

21 


242  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

each  other  ;  and  how  pleased  they  are  when  they  have 
dealt  a  severe  blow.  That  was  a  good  one,  they  say. 
In  the  mean  time  the  harvest  rots,  or  is  not  reaped. 
[Written  on  liis  death  bed.] 


DIFFERENCES    OF    OPINION. 

I  would  as  readily  be  a  heretic  as  a  pugilist.  It  is 
almost  as  well  not  to  speak  the  truth,  as  to  speak  it 
not  in  love. 

If  St.  John  was  writing  to  the  ministers,  and  officers, 
and  member  of  the  church  in  our  day,  would  he  address 
them  as  "little  children'"?  Are  they  such  in  temper 
and  "in  malice'"?     1  Cor.  xiv,  20. 

If  we  are  commanded  to  contend  for  the  faith,  are  we 
not  also  commanded  to  walk  in  love,  and  to  follow  peace, 
and  the  things  which  make  for  peace  1  It  don't  mar 
the  beauty,  or  impair  the  efficacy  of  truth  to  speak  it 
in  love. 

I  am  determined  not  to  quarrel  with  other  evangelical 
bodies  of  Christians,  so  long  as  I  see  that  enemy  there, 
and  Clirist,  the  captain,  calling  me  to  take  the  field 
against  him.  Let  us  go  and  make  mankind  Christians 
first,  and  then  we  will  sit  down  and  discuss  whether 
they  should  be  of  our  denomination  or  not.  Long 
ere  that  our  bodies  shall  have  been  laid  in  their  last 
repose,  and  our  souls  shall  be  leaning  on   the  bosom 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  243 

of  the  Beloved  in  glory — and  we  shall  all  be  of  one 
heart ;  and  Wesley,  and  Fuller,  and  Leighton,  and 
Calvin,  and  Luther,  shall  be  forgotten,  and  Christ 
alone  remembered. 

I  am  no  metaphysician.  I  have  no  skill  in  splitting 
hairs.  Nor  am  I  a  partisan.  I  don't  belong  exactly  to 
either  of  the  schools.  I  am  something  of  an  eclectic. 
There  are  many  things  about  the  old  school  that  I  like. 
I  am  of  opinion  that  it  is  none  the  worse  for  being  old. 
There  are  some  things  about  the  new  school  that  I 
don't  greatly  object  to.  I  suspect,  after  all,  that  both 
the  schools  have  the  same  Master,  though  in  each, 
some  things  are  learned,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  case,  which 
the  Master  does  not  teach.  I  think  the  scholars  of  both 
the  schools  ought  to  love  one  another.  1  am  persuaded 
the  Master  loves  both.  I  wish  they  would  love  each 
other,  and  leave  off  calling  names,  and  dealing  out  sar- 
casm, and  indulging  suspicions  of  each  other,  and  impu- 
ting a  bad  motive,  when  it  is  not  certain  but  it  might 
have  been  a  good  one.  Oh,  I  wish  they  would;  I  desire 
it  for  charity's  sake ;  I  desire  it  too  for  truth's  sake ; — for 
the  way  to  think  alike,  is  first  to  feel  alike.  Nothing 
tends  more  to  make  people  of  one  mind  than  being  of 
one  heart.  If  they  feel  heart  to  heart,  they  will  be  apt 
to  see  eye  to  eye.  I  wish  the  brethren  would,  in  putting 
matters  right,  begin  at  this  end.  We  have  tried  the 
other  end.  I  wish  for  the  sake  of  sound  doctrine  that 
the  brethren  would  love  each  other.  For  one,  I  am 
determined  to  do  so.  I  will  not  call  any  brother  a  fox, 
though  he  should  have  some  degree  of  management 
about  him  ;  nor  a  bear,  though  he  may  not  have  all  the 


244  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

civility  in  the  world  ;  nor  a  snake  in  the  grass,  be- 
cause he  does  not  reveal  to  me  all  his  plans.  If  I  really 
do  fear  that  any  one  called  a  brother,  bears  none  of  the 
lineaments  of  the  First  Begotten,  I  will  tell  the  Lord 
my  fears,  and  pray  for  him  ;  and  before  I  have  done  at 
the  throne  of  grace,  I  will  say,  "Search  me,  O,  God,  and 
know  my  heart :  try  me  and  know  my  thoughts,  and  see 
if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in  me." 


CONTENDING    FOR    THE    FAITH. 

"Contend  earnestly  for  the  faith."  This  is  strong 
language,  but  the  original  is  still  more  forcible.  The 
Greek  terra  here  employed,  was  the  one  commonly  used 
to  describe  the  exertions  made  by  those  who  engaged  in 
the  celebrated  ancient  games.  It  represents  the  Chris- 
tian faith  as  a  prize,  for  the  maintenance  and  propaga- 
tion of  which.  Christians  should  enter  the  lists  and  put 
forth  all  their  powers.  It  was  to  be  expected  that 
opposition  would  be  made  to  the  truth,  for  it  was  con- 
fessed to  be  a  system  not  at  all  to  the  taste  and  liking 
of  proud  and  prejudiced  men.  Opposition  had  indeed 
shown  itself,  even  in  that  apostolic  age.  Certain  men 
had  crept  in  unawares,  ungodly  men,  turning  the  grace 
of  God  into  lasciviousness,  and  denying  the  only  Lord 
God  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Jude  foresaw  that 
this  opposition  to  the  simple  Gospel,  would  increase, 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  245 

and  extend,  and  become  more  formidable.  And  it  was 
not  a  phantom  that  flitted  before  his  vision.  In  every 
age,  the  truth  has  been  opposed,  and  the  hght  hated 
and  eschewed.     It  is  so  even  now. 

The  importance  of  truth  and  the  prevalence  of  error, 
together,  prove  the  necessity  of  contending  for  that 
most  precious  portion  of  truth,  called  in  Scripture  "  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints."  But  how  shall  we 
be  prepared  to  contend  for  this  great  prize  1  First, 
distinguish  carefully  and  accurately  between  truth  and 
error.  Ascertain  what  is  the  faith  once  delivered  to 
the  saints.  Do  not  put  on  your  armor  and  engage  in 
the  conflict,  until  you  know  that  you  are  on  the  right 
side.  Take  good  heed  that  you  be  not  found  fighting 
in  the  ranks  of  error.  Inform  yourself  before  you  under- 
take to  instruct  or  rectify  another. 

If  it  be  not  easy  to  discern  the  distinction  between 
truth  and  error,  it  is  nevertheless  practicable,  even  for 
one  of  moderate  understanding,  and  comparatively  little 
leisure.  A  man's  success  and  progress  in  the  knowledge 
of  the  truth  of  God,  is  not  in  proportion  to  the  vigor  of 
his  intellect,  the  depth  of  his  research,  and  the  amount 
of  time  that  he  employs  in  the  study.  An  humble  and 
teachable  disposition,  inclining  one  to  sit,  as  Mary  did, 
at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  learn  of  him,  is  more  eflfectual 
to  the  attainment  of  that  knowledge  which  is  effectual 
to  salvation,  than  years  spent  in  the  most  intense 
application  of  the  mightiest  unaided  powers  to  the  sub- 
ject. It  takes  no  long  time  to  learn  the  true  meaning 
of  the  word  of  God ;  but  to  make  the  word  of  God  speak 

a  meaning  by  dint  of  misinterpretation,  that  shall  chime 

21* 


246  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

in  with  our  prejudices  and  sanction  our  practice,  may 
require  much  time  and  more  toil. 

It  is  one  grand  advantage  we  have  in  the  search  of 
truth,  that  all  of  it,  which  is  pertinent  to  salvation,  is 
contained  in  a  single  volume.  This  is  the  record  of 
truth.  This  is  our  creed,  in  a  sense  in  which  no  for- 
mulary is.  We  express  a  creed  often  in  our  own  lan- 
guage, in  conversation  and  in  preaching,  and  we  may 
write  it,  and  print  it,  and  make  it  a  bond  of  union ;  but 
the  Scriptures  are  the  source  and  support  of  it.  We 
believe  it  only  so  far  as  we  suppose  we  have  proven  it 
to  be  according  to  the  Scriptures.  These  Scriptures 
must  be  read — must  be  searched,  and  candidly  com- 
pared. But  this  is  not  all.  Alas,  for  that  man  who 
has  no  practical  regard  to  the  admonition:  "if  any  lack 
wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God," — who  applying  his  own 
faculties  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  does  not  invoke  the 
aid  and  instruction  of  the  divine  interpreter,  and  who 
does  not  study  often  upon  his  knees.  Man  in  no  man- 
ner ever  penetrates  so  easily  and  deeply  into  the  pro- 
fundities of  divine  knowledge,  as  by  prayer.  You  must 
pray  if  you  would  learn  these  heavenly  lessons.  And 
you  must  also  carry  out  the  truth  so  far  as  known  into 
practice.  Remember  this  maxim,  "  If  any  man  will  do 
his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  doctrine."  If  you  know 
the  truth  in  part,  you  are  not  to  wait  until  you  know 
the  whole  before  you  begin  to  practice  any  of  it.  If 
the  truth  you  have,  you  hold  in  unrighteousness,  it  is 
merciful  in  God  to  let  you  have  no  more,  lest  holding 
that  also  in  unrighteousness,  you  but  aggravate  the 
more  your  condemnation.     Ah,  how  many  there  are 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  247 

inquiring  into  the  subject  of  religion,  and  studying  the 
Scriptures,  while  yet  they  are  neglecting  the  elemen- 
tary and  obvious  duty  of  repentance.  They  wish  to 
know  what  is  right,  while  yet  they  are  doing  what 
they  know  to  be  wrong.  No  wonder  they  are  no  more 
successful  in  their  researches.  Would  to  God  they 
would  adopt  the  course  just  suggested. 

Secondly.  Having  distinguished  truth  from  error, 
the  next  thing  is  to  set  a  proper  value  on  the  distinction. 
For  the  conflict  in  the  cause  of  truth,  this  prepares  a 
man,  and  this  sustains  him  in  it.  However  accurately 
a  man  may  discern  the  distinction  in  question,  yet  if  he 
regards  it  as  unimportant,  if  he  adopts  the  sentiment 
that  it  matters  not  what  a  man  believes,  how  will  he, 
or  why  should  he  contend  for  it  1  In  his  opinion,  it  is 
not  worth  contending  for.  Practice,  he  affirms  to  be 
the  great  matter,  just  as  if  practice  were  not  the  carry- 
ing out  of  principle — virtue  the  operation  of  truth,  and 
sin  the  elaboration  of  error.  How  can  it  be  supposed 
that  if  the  distinction  between  truth  and  error  were  not 
of  the  first  importance,  God  would  have  made  a  revela- 
tion for  the  purpose  of  drawing  the  line  that  separates 
them  1  It  is  passing  strange,  that  a  man,  with  the 
Bible  in  his  hand  and  reason  in  exercise,  should  say  it 
is  no  matter  what  one  believes,  provided  only  he  be 
sincere  ;  that  is,  provided  only  he  does  believe  it,  for 
sincerity  means  no  more.  This  sentiment,  making 
sincerity  every  thing,  makes  hypocrisy  the  only  evil. 
It  is  an  evil,  and  a  great  one,  but  not  the  only  one. 

One  of  the  most  ingenious,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most 
successful  devices  of  the  enemy  of  mankind,  is  that  of 


248  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

undervaluing  and  bringing  into  disesteem  the  distinc- 
tion here  considered.  He  would  fain  have  us  con- 
found virtue  and  vice,  holiness  and  sin  ;  and  he  begins, 
by  persuading  us  to  confound  truth  and  error.  "  I 
believe  that  no  error  is  innocent,  and  that  if  we  could 
trace  the  effects  of  erroneous  opinions  on  the  secret 
traits  of  human  character,  we  should  find  that  every 
shade  of  error  has  a  counterpart  in  the  moral  feelings." 
This  able  writer  here  pohits  us  to  that  which  gives 
value  and  importance  to  the  distinction  between  truth 
and  error.  It  is  that  our  feelings  and  actions  are  and 
must  be  according  to  our  belief.  Can  a  man  love,  and 
serve,  and  honor,  and  confide  in  a  being  whose  charac- 
ter he  misunderstands? — or  if  he  should  do  all  these 
through  error,  will  the  true  God  consider  service  done 
to  another  god,  as  done  to  him  1  Having  made  the 
distinction  between  truth  and  error,  set  a  proper,  and 
that  will  be  a  high  value  upon  it. 

Thirdly.  Show  the  superiority  of  truth  over  error  by 
its  moral  influence  on  your  conduct.  This  is  not  only 
one  excellent  way  of  illustrating  the  reality  and  value 
of  the  distinction  between  truth  and  error,  but  it  is  a 
very  suitable  and  efficient  manner  of  contending  for  the 
truth.  You  can  do  the  cause  of  truth  in  no  one  way  so 
much  good  as  by  silently  living  it.  Why  do  men  say 
it  is  of  little  consequence  what  is  believed,  but  because 
they  see  so  little  moral  efficacy  in  the  boasted  faith  of 
Christians — because  there  is  so  much  dead  principle,  so 
much  heartless  and  lifeless  orthodoxy  visible  to  them. 
Carry  out  your  theory  into  practice,  let  truth  exist  as  a 
living  principle  in  you,  exhibit  an  efficient  orthodoxy, 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  249 

be  as  scriptural  in  your  conduct  and  temper,  as  you  are 
in  your  opinions,  and  the  world  will  be  compelled  to 
acknowledge  the  value  of  truth  ;  and  will  see  that  you 
possess  it.  Ah,  that  this  might  be  done.  Who  can  con- 
template the  articles  of  your  belief,  ye  Christians,  and 
see  how  elevating,  how  inspiring,  how  purifying  they 
are,  and  not  exclaim,  "  what  manner  of  persons  ought 
ye  to  be"  !  And  yet  what  are  youl  How  unlike  what 
it  might  be  expected  you  would  be  !  And  why,  but  be- 
cause there  is  something  that  obstructs  the  operation  of 
your  belief]  You,  even  you,  to  some  extent,  hold  the 
truth  in  unrighteousness.  You  are  bound  to  be  the 
best  of  men,  for  you  have  the  means  of  being  the  best. 
You  have  the  fullest  and  the  clearest  knowledge  of  the 
truth.     Are  you  examples  of  this  moral  superiority  1 

Fourthly.  Be  careful  that  your  motive  in  contending 
for  the  faith  be  such  as  a  holy  and  benevolent  God  will 
approve.  He  will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  a 
care  for  his  glory  and  a  love  for  the  souls  of  men.  Be 
careful  also  that  your  object  be  not  to  gain  the  reputa- 
tion of  prowess  as  a  combatant  ;  not  to  enjoy  the  honor 
and  exultation  of  victory ;  not  to  promote  the  strength- 
ening of  a  party,  but  to  honor  God  and  save  men. 
Let  not  ambition  actuate  you,  nor  a  partisan  zeal,  nor 
the  paltry  spirit  of  proselytism,  but  charity,  loving  both 
God  and  man  unfeignedly.  Espouse  the  cause  of  right 
thinking,  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  right  feeling  and  right 
acting.  Contend  for  the  faith  mainly  on  account  of 
the  holiness  and  the  eternal  life  with  which  it  stands 
connected.  If  such  be  your  motive,  your  manner  of 
contending  will  be  unexceptionable  ;   with  such  an  end 


250  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

in  view,  so  noble  and  so  benevolent,  you  can  hardly 
fail  of  adopting  the  most  judicious  means  of  attaining 
it.  You  will  contend  earnestly,  by  how  much  you  love 
the  souls  of  men  and  desire  their  salvation,  but  you  will 
not  contend  impatiently  and  angrily.  If  pity  move, 
passion  cannot  agitate  you.  There  is  an  impatience 
often  exhibited  in  controversy  even  by  those  who  carry 
no  worse  feeling  into  it.  We  get  wearied  and  fretted 
with  persons  that  are  in  error.  We  see  a  thing  clearly 
ourselves,  and  we  are  out  of  patience  with  others  that 
they  cannot  discover  it  too.  We  are  amazed  at  their 
stupidity  or  obstinacy,  and  exclaim  against  it.  But  this 
is  not  "  in  meekness  instructing  them,  that  they  may 
recover  themselves  out  of  the  snare."  That  charity 
which  rejoices  in  the  truth,  suffereth  long,  and  is  not 
easily  provoked. 

It  is  the  manner  in  which  religious  controversy  has 
been  conducted,  that  has  brought  it  into  disrepute,  and 
not  any  thing  unworthy  in  the  thing  itself.  Contro- 
versy is  worthy,  is  lawful,  yea,  often  obligatory.  Every 
minister  is  bound  in  some  sense  to  be  a  controversialist, 
much  more  they  who  are  set  for  the  defence  of  the  Gos- 
pel. We  must  "  contend  earnestly  for  the  faith."  But 
some  have  understood  "earnestly"  to  mean  angrily; 
and  for  the  warmth  of  love,  have  substituted  that  of 
passion.  Ambition  having  too  often  been  their  motive, 
and  victory  their  object,  their  measures  have  been 
violence,  denunciation,  sarcasm,  intolerance.  Selfish, 
rather  than  benevolent  considerations,  influencing  them, 
they  have  tried  how  severe  and  cutting  they  could  be, 
and  what  smart  and  sarcastic  things  they  could  say, 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  251 

and  liow  they  could  provoke  or  expose  an  antagonist. 
And  an  observant  world  looking  on,  and  being  disquiet- 
ed, has,  in  its  haste,  condemned  all  controversy,  and 
suffered  even  truth  to  sink  in  its  estimation.  Such 
unfriendly  turn  have  the  avowed  friends  of  truth  too 
often  done  her. 


THE    MINISTRY. 

What  holiness  and  gifts  are  required  in  the  ministry. 
Look  at  one  duty.  Every  administration  of  the  Lord's 
supper,  ought  as  far  as  possible  to  be  like  its  first  cele- 
bration. At  such  a  time,  it  falls  to  the  minister  of 
Christ  to  take  the  head  of  the  table,  to  sit  (who  does 
not  tremble  at  the  thought)  in  the  seat  which  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  occupied,  to  do  his  actions  and  say  his 
words.     "Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things '?" 

We  ought  to  preach  as  if  the  whole  success  of  the 
Gospel  depended  on  our  manner  of  presenting  the 
truth;  yet  we  ought  humbly  to  pray,  remembering  that 
the  whole  efiicacy  of  our  preaching  depends  solely  on 
God. 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  preaching  which  is  only  di- 
dactic, coldly  argumentative,  merely  indicative,  simply 
inviting.  It  teaches,  reasons,  points,  and  invites ;  but 
does  not  apply,  entreat,  warn,  expostulate,   persuade. 


252  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

The  preacher  seems  satisfied  with  having  done,  as  he 
supposes,  his  duty,  and  does  not  appear  to  care  much 
whether  the  hearers  do  theirs  or  not.  Such  preaching 
will  not  do.  It  does  not  succeed.  It  does  not  fulfil  the 
commission.     It  does  not  please  God. 

We  have  sheep  wandering  without  a  shepherd,  and 
we  have  almost  as  many  shepherds  wandering  without 
sheep.  Formerly  it  was  not  so.  Then  the  lack  was  of 
laborers.  Now  many  stand  idle,  because  none  employs 
them.  They  cannot  find  any  part  of  the  harvest  where 
it  suits  themselves  and  all  hands,  that  they  should 
thrust  in  the  sickle  and  reap.  This  is  a  very  popular 
objection  now  to  the  education  cause. 

Ye  ministers  of  Christ,  let  the  ardor  ye  diffuse,  be 
that  of  the  Gospel.  Let  it  not  be  even  scented  with 
your  own  philosophy.  And  think  not  to  make  it 
agreeable  to  natural  sense. 

It  is  a  strange  mistake  of  some,  that  the  authority 
and  obligation  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  any  creature,  is 
founded  upon  his  conviction  of  his  need  of  it  and  his 
disposition  to  receive  it. 

What  if  some  of  us  make  you  promises  of  salvation 
on  such  and  such  terms,  provided  God  does  not  1  We 
may  soothe  you,  but  can  we  save  you  1  What  will  our 
passport  avail  1 

If  God  did  no  more  for  sinners  in  regeneration,  than 
some  affirm  he  does ;  if,  as  they  say,  he  went  no  farther 
than  to  employ  moral  suasion,  never  a  sinner  would  be 
saved.  At  all  events,  it  would  be  improper  for  us  to 
pray  for  any  one's  salvation,  for  then  we  should  be  ask- 
ing God  to  do  more  than  it  is  proper  for  him  to  do. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  253 

There  was  never  a  more  absurd  and  unscriptural 
assertion  made,  than  that  in  preaching  the  Gospel  and 
persuading  men  to  repentance,  no  appeal  should  be 
made  to  fearful  apprehensions.  It  arraigns  the  conduct 
of  the  Son  of  God,  and  condemns  the  practice  of  his 
apostles,  who,  because  they  knew  the  terrors  of  the 
Lord,  persuaded  men. 

In  preaching  the  Gospel,  let  all  sinners  know  that 
we  never  see  so  much  depravity  in  ourselves,  as  Christ 
saw  in  us,  when  he  consented  to  die  for  us.  Let  this 
encourage  all  to  come  to  him. 

There  is  a  point,  beyond  which,  to  seek  the  assistance 
of  a  brother  in  an  excited  state  of  feeling,  in  a  pastoral 
charge,  is  leaning  on  an  arm  of  flesh. 

As  a  general  fact,  the  relations  of  the  present  life 
cease,  when  life  itself  terminates.  These  silken  threads 
part  when  the  silver  cord  is  loosed.  But  there  is  one  tie 
connecting  souls,  that  does  not  part  even  then.  There 
is  one  relation  that  survives  death,  that  will  outlast  the 
resurrection,  that  will  be  recognized  at  the  judgment, 
and  be  dissolved  only  when  the  business  of  that  im- 
portant day  is  finished ;  and  that  tie,  which  death,  that 
sunders  every  other,  shall  respect,  is  the  moral  tie  that 
feinds  the  pastor,  in  all  his  conscious  imperfection  and 
unworthiness,  to  his  congregation,  and  which  connects, 
though  not  so  closely,  every  one  that  only  preaches  the 
Gospel  to  those  w4io  hear  it  from  him.  We  meet  not 
each  other  for  the  last  time,  when  one  of  us  closes  his 
eyes  in  death.  We  part  not  finally  at  the  dying  bed. 
Oh,  no,  we  shall  meet  again,  if  not  before,  yet  on  the 

morning  of  the  resurrection  day;  and  by  the  light  of  the 

22 


254  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

last  sun-rising,  we  shall  assemble  in  the  great  con- 
course before  the  tribunal  that  shall  be  erected  in  mid- 
heaven.  But  we  shall  not  merely  meet.  We  shall 
meet  as  pastor  and  people.  The  judge  will  have  respect 
to  this  relation,  and  we  shall  vividly  remember  it.  This 
doctrine  is  plainly  taught  by  Paul,  when  he  speaks  of 
"presenting  his  hearers  perfect  in  Christ  Jesus,"  when 
he  says,  that  his  spiritual  children  are  to  be  his  "  hope 
and  crown  of  rejoicing  in  the  presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  at  his  coming,"  and  when  he  says  that  those 
"  who  watch  for  souls  must  give  account." 


VISITATION    OF    THE    SICK. 

There  are  two  classes  of  men  to  whom  the  world 
presents  itself  in  an  aspect  which  is  hid  from  the  mass 
of  mankind.  The  physician  and  the  pastor  look  on 
men  from  a  prospect-ground  peculiarly  their  own. 
They  see  man  not  in  the  might  of  his  mind,  or  in  the 
vigor  of  his  frame,  when  he  comes  out  in  the  morning 
the  fair  handiwork  of  Heaven,  and  conscious  sovereign, 
of  all  under  God.  They  look  on  him  in  his  prostration 
and  misery ;  visit  him  when  under  the  depression  of 
grief,  and  in  the  impatience  and  feverishness  of  pain ; 
they  hear  all  his  repinings — see  all  his  weaknesses  and 
tears,  and  know  better  than  others,  how  poor  and  hum- 
ble a  thing  he  comes  to  be  before  he  dies.      They  see 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  255 

him  not  in  the  touching'  grace  and  attitude  of  the 
subUme  Apollo,  but  in  the  recumbent  and  distorted 
posture  of  the  suffering  Laocoon.  Others  walk  on  the 
surface  of  society, — they  penetrate  to  the  core.  And  it 
is  like  being  conversant  with  different  worlds.  Without 
and  in  the  street,  all  is  hilarity  and  joy  of  heart,  and 
the  gay  spirit  of  life  predominates.  But  it  is  only  the 
opening  of  a  door,  or  the  stepping  into  a  cellar,  and  the 
scene  is  all  changed.  Man,  the  goodly  child  of  Heaven, 
the  fellow  of  him  who  was  seen  in  all  the  alertness  and 
joy  of  life,  made  after  the  same  pattern,  and  breathed 
into  by  the  same  Spirit,  is  laid  out  in  languishment  and 
death,  too  poor  for  aught  but  pity,  his  sinking  pulse  and 
laboring  heart  betokening  how  little  of  the  little  span 
is  left  him. 

To  these  scenes,  both  come  on  the  work  of  benev- 
olence, but  they  occupy  different  departments.  The 
curer  of  the  body,  knows  his  toils  and  anxieties.  Let 
him  first  do  his  work  and  be  gone.  Oh,  then,  to  sit 
down  by  the  bedside,  at  the  moment  when  the  phy- 
sician shakes  his  head  and  retires,  and  all  that  is  seen 
and  heard,  betokens  that  the  sick  is  given  over ;  at 
that  moment  of  wound-up  interest,  to  press  gently  the 
wasted  hand,  and  if  the  sick  be  a  child  of  God,  to  make 
the  skilful  application  of  the  Gospel's  comforts ;  to 
select  and  present  the  chapters  which  the  Spirit  has 
written  for  the  dying ;  to  tell  of  the  rod  and  staff  of 
Jehovah  to  comfort ;  and  how  precious  in  his  eyes  is 
the  death  of  his  saints  ;  or  if  he  be  not  a  child  of  God, 
cautiously  to  alarm,  and  gently  to  press  home  the  fre- 
quent invitation,  the  encouraging  promise,  the  riches  of 


256  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

the  Father's  tender  mercies,  and  the  impressive  testi- 
monies of  the  Saviour's  love  ;  with  these,  and  with  the 
fearful  alternations,  to  win,  if  he  can,  the  poor  soul, 
whose  night  is  just  at  hand.  What  a  task  !  Yet  this 
must  he  do,  and  continue  to  do,  as  he  has  opportunity, 
till  the  latest  coming-  and  decisive  token  of  death  sits 
upon  the  body,  till  the  ear  has  lost  it  hearing,  and  the 
soul's  last  signal-light  is  withdrawn.  In  doing  this,  he 
shall  clear  his  own  soul,  assist  God's  children  in  their 
last  conflicts,  and  peradventure  pluck  brands  from  the 
burning. 

If  the  whole  system  of  Christianity  be  not  a  tissue  of 
error,  if  the  doctrines  of  depravity,  repentance,  and  re- 
demption through  faith  in  another,  have  the  testimony 
of  the  Bible,  and  be  not  the  dogmas  of  a  sect,  if  it  be 
not  a  delusion,  that  impenitence  and  neglect  of  the 
Gospel,  jeopard  the  soul,  if  all  the  apprehensions  that 
darken  and  distract  the  sick  man's  mind,  be  not  of 
superstition's  creating,  if  it  be  not  the  dream  of  de- 
lirium, that  there  are  those  who  lie  on  their  last  made 
bed,  without  hope  and  without  God,  if  it  be  not  a  wild 
and  headlong  fanaticism  to  meddle  with  a  man's  last 
hours,  and  to  converse  with  him  on  the  things  that 
belong  to  the  sweetness  of  his  sleep  in  death  and  the 
peace  of  his  soul  in  eternity,  but  if  it  be  a  duty,  solemn 
and  imperative,  then  is  it  the  most  interesting,  the  most 
delicate,  the  most  trying  to  the  spirit,  the  fullest  of 
anxieties  and  perils  of  all  that  can  fall  under  the  oflBice 
of  a  servant  of  Christ.  It  is  like  standing  on  the 
nearest  brink  of  eternity,  and  conversing  with  the  spirit 
of  another  world.      And  if  an  intense   and   alarming 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  257 

anxiety  did  not  preside  over  the  whole  scene,  we  should 
call  it  the  most  sublime  on  this  side  of  the  grave.  But 
it  offers  no  leisure  for  contemplation  ;  it  is  all  a  scene 
of  hurried  action.  No  step  then  taken  can  be  retraced, 
no  word  spoken,  recalled.  What  is  done,  must  be  done 
quickly.  There  is  no  time  for  consultation  or  experi-' 
ment,  but  he  who  undertakes  the  work,  must  apply 
hastily  his  glass  and  spy  out  every  delusion  and  false 
refuge  of  the  soul.  He  must  be  acquainted  with  all 
the  folds  and  entanglements  of  the  heart,  and  study 
the  whole  anatomy  of  that  wounded  spirit  which  he 
seeks  to  cure.  "Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things'?" 
All  of  which  must  be  done,  if  he  would  save  himself 
and  them  that  hear  him. 


THE    CHURCH. 

That  portion  of  the  world  which  is  occuped  by  the 
church,  is  morally  related  to  all  the  rest,  in  the  manner 
that  a  carefully  cultivated  vineyard  is  to  the  unenclosed 
and  untilled  common* 

22* 


258  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


SPREAD    OF    THE    GOSPEL. 

That  man  is  no  friend  to  civil  liberty,  however  he 
may  profess  to  be,  who  does  not  desire  to  see  its  princi- 
ples universally  recognized,  and  its  blessings  every 
where  enjoyed,  and  a  perpetual  end  put  to  all  tyranny 
and  thraldom.  So  neitlier  is  he  a  friend  and  lover  of 
the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes  the  soul  of  man 
free,  who  does  not  desire,  and  pray,  and  labor,  that  this 
liberty  may  be  extended  throughout  the  earth,  and 
enfranchise  every  human  soul. 


MISSIONS. 


In  assigning  the  causes  of  the  inconsiderable  success 
of  modern  missionary  exertions,  perhaps  as  the  foremost 
of  all,  should  be  mentioned  the  unworthy  conduct  of 
those  who  have  borne  the  Christian  name  among  un- 
evangelized  nations.  The  missionary  has  every  where 
been  preceded  by  the  avariciovis  trader  and  the  reckless 
adventurer,  and  by  those  who  have  not  only  disgraced 
the  name  of  Christian,  but  have  fallen  below  the  now 
degraded  name  of  man.  Such  have  been  the  specimens 
of  Christianity  set  before  the  votaries  of  the  various 
systems  of  false  religion.      How  should  they  not  have 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  259 

taken  up  a  prejudice  against  a  system,  whose  professors 
afforded  an  example  of  all  that  is  despised  and  hated 
in  the  human  character  1  When  the  truly  Christian 
missionary  has  gone  among  them  and  proclaimed  the 
healing  virtues  of  the  Gospel,  they  remember  how  often 
these  Christians  have  practised  deceit,  plundered  prop- 
erty, and  committed  murder  in  their  very  midst.  And 
if  the  servant  of  Christ  tells  them,  that  such  are  Chris- 
tians only  in  name,  and  that  they  acted  in  derogation 
of  the  whole  spirit  of  the  religion  they  unworthily  pro- 
fessed, they  will  say,  "  If  it  had  the  virtues  you  ascribe 
to  it,  it  would  not  have  such  professors," — or  "  Let 
your  religion  reform  your  own  people,  and  when  that  is 
done,  bring  it  to  us." 

Is  it  right  or  magnanimous,  by  the  stale  cry  of  fa- 
naticism, to  chill  the  ardors  or  check  the  fiowings  of 
benevolence  in  those  who  have  left  all,  and  gone  to  dis- 
tant dying  nations  with  the  life-giving  Gospel.  Is  it  not 
as  well  and  as  praiseworthy  to  go  away  into  the  wilder- 
ness, there  to  teach  wild  men  civilizing  and  saving- 
Christianity,  or  to  go  even  to  India,  if  so  be  (hat  we 
may  effectually  communicate  the  good  news,  as  it  is  to 
tempt  the  snowy  tops  of  Andes — penetrate  into  the 
interior  of  Africa,  to  explore  the  source  of  the  Niger,  or 
to  measure  an  arc  of  the  meridian  1  Is  it  that  the  object 
is  one  of  inferior  moment  1  No,  Is  it  that  less  success 
and  a  wider  waste  of  human  life  are  produced  1  No  ; 
yet  who  says  a  word  against  the  successive  attempts 
that  are  made  in  Africa,  though  all  from  Park  to 
Burckhardt  have  perished  in  the  undertaking  1  How 
is  it  that  the  high  and  noble  daring  of  enterprize  ceases 


260  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

to  be  admirable,  when  the  object  is  the  carrying  of  the 
Gospel  ]  How  is  it  that  we  gaze  in  wonder  at  our 
fellow-men,  and  applaud  him  who  makes  heavy  sacrifi- 
ces and  encounters  many  dangers  to  add  to  the  stock  of 
science ;  and  keep  back  our  applause  from  him  who  does 
the  same  to  enhance  the  triumphs  of  religion  ]  Why 
is  it  that  you  remember  and  laud  the  fearless  navigator 
tliat  breaks  through  the  mountain  ice,  to  find  a  new 
channel  for  commerce,  and  that  you  forget  or  remember 
to  despise  the  more  intrepid  missionary,  that  goes  to  the 
eternal  frosts,  to  preach  the  love  of  Jesus  to  the  poor 
shivering  natives  1  Is  it  madness  to  suffer  a  little  for 
him  who  suffered  so  much  for  us  1  Is  it  glorious  to  die 
for  one's  king  and  country^  and  not  glorious  to  die  for 
our  God  1 

If  any  man  loves  the  cause  of  Christ  where  it  is  es- 
tablished, he  must  needs  desire  to  see  it  established 
where  it  is  not. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  261 


WHY    EVERY    BODY    SHOULD    HAVE    THE 
BIBLE  IN  TWENTY  YEARS. 

[an  unpublished  tract.] 
DATED  MAY,   1834. 

Fellow  Christians;  this  small  treatise  which  is 
put  into  your  hands,  and  which  you  are  affectionately 
requested  not  to  put  out  of  your  hands  till  you  have 
carefully  read  it,  however  extravagant  and  visionary,  at 
first,  the  design  of  it  may  appear  to  you,  avows  the 
following  object,  viz.,  the  supply  of  the  accessible  popu- 
lation of  the  "  whole  world"  with  the  Word  of  God, 
within  a  definite  period ;  and  it  intends  to  plead  for  the 
speedy  adoption,  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  of  a 
resolution  to  undertake,  at  least,  its  due  share  in  the 
great  work  of  the  universal  supply.  Your  approbation 
of  the  plan — your  agreement  in  the  resolution,  and 
your  co-operation  in  its  execution  are  desired  and  need- 
ed. It  is  however  neither  expected  nor  desired  that 
they  should  be  given  at  our  simple  request.  We  there- 
fore beg  your  serious  consideration  of  some  reasons  in 
favor  of  the  plan  and  resolution,  which  we  will  now 
respectfully  submit. 

The  thing  proposed  is,  that  the  whole  world  shall 
have  the  Bible  ;  and  that,  to  this  end,  we  who  have  it, 
should  rise  in  the  spirit  of  our  Master,  and  in  his 
strength  resolve  that  they  shall  have  it. 


262  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

A  county  first  resolved  to  search  out  and  supply  its 
destitute.  Scarcely  was  it  said,  ere  it  was  done  ;  and 
every  family  in  Monroe  had  a  Bible.  Emboldened  by 
this  success  to  a  wider  enterprize,  a  Bible  Society  met, 
and  dared  to  resolve  that  a  state  should  be  supplied;  and 
as  by  magic,  the  exploring  agents  appeared,  the  neces- 
isary  funds  were  contributed,  and  the  work  was  done. 
Then  it  was  argued,  that  if  one  state  could  be  supplied, 
twenty-four  states  could  be.  So  the  great  American 
Union  became  the  next  object ;  and  it  was  resolved  by 
her,  who  having  taken  the  name  of  American,  was  now 
acting  in  the  true  spirit  of  that  name,  that  wide,  as  the 
banner  of  freedom  waves  over  our  land,  the  leaves  that 
are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations  shall  be  scattered. 
And  that  too  has  been  done.  The  Bible,  if  it  has  not 
been  welcomed  into  every  family,  has  been  offered  at 
every  door. 

Now,  this  being  done,  the  county,  the  state,  the  coun- 
try supplied,  Avhat  shall  we  next  do  1  Shall  we  rest  from 
our  labors  1  Earth  is  not  the  spot,  nor  time  the  space  for 
rest.  Nor  are  we  wearied,  that  we  require  rest.  Our 
work  hitherto  has  not  been  exhausting  toil,  but  refreshing 
exercise.  It  has  but  prepared  us  for  other  and  larger 
labors.  We  cannot  rest  now.  We  have  given  our  great 
country  the  Bible,  and  we  have  derived  such  pleasure 
and  profit  from  the  benevolent  work,  that  we  covet 
more  of  the  kind.  The  demand  is  now  for  a  larger 
object — a  wider  field. 

Accordingly  it  is  proposed  that  we  undertake  the 
world;  and  since  there  is  no  Bible  Society  of  the  world, 
whose  appropriate  business  it  is  to  resolve  for  the  world, 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  263 

that  she^  who  said,  strong-  in  the  sensaof  her  weakness, 
"  The  American  Union  shall  have  the  Bible,"  should, 
as  on  her  knees,  and  with  eye  lifted  in  imploring-  and 
confiding  look  to  heaven,  say,  "We,  in  conjunction 
with  our  sisters  of  the  other  continent,  resolve  to  at- 
tempt in  the  name  and  strength  of  our  God,  to  give 
the  Bible  to  the  whole  world?" 

But  will  it  do?     Is  it  safe  to  venture  on  so  large  a 
resolution  ?     Is  it  the  time  ?     It  is  true  that  great  enter- 
prises  call  forth   great   efforts ;    but  will  not   the   very 
magnitude  of  this  undertaking,  tend  to  defeat  its  ac- 
complishment ?     Will    it    not    enervate    by  alarming  1 
Whether  it  be   wise    and    prudent    now   to   adopt   the 
resolution,  is  matter  of  opinion.     Appeal  has  already 
been  made  to  this,  and  many  voices  from  many  quarters 
have  responded  affirmatively.     The  question  has  been 
submitted  to  numerous  minds,  and  they  have  pondered 
on  it,  and  prayed  over  it,  and  without  an  exception,  so 
far  as  is  known,  the  answer  has  been,   "  let  the  resolu- 
tion be  adopted."    Numerous  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  dif- 
ferent Christian  denominations  have  consulted  together 
on  the  subject,  and  they  have  said,  "  let  it  be  adopted." 
Local  Bible  Societies,  have  not  only  approved  the  adop- 
tion, but  have  transmitted  their  resolutions,  urging  it, 
and  pledging  the  co-operation  of  their  prayers,  efforts, 
and  worldly  treasures.     So  that  there  is  more  than  a 
consent  to  the  resolution.     There  is  a  call  for  it.     Now 
what  shall  the  American  Bible  Society  respond  to  this 
call  1      How   shall   she  treat  these   grave   petitioners  ? 
She  wants  to  know  her  duty.     She  would  not  engage 
in    any    rash   enterprise.       Neither    could    she    decline 


264  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

responsibility.  Shall  she  wait  until  a  louder  and  more 
general  call  reach'^.s  her  ear  1  She  will,  if  her  consti- 
tuents say  so.  She  has  waited  one  year,  and  twenty 
millions  of  Pagans  have,  meanwhile,  gone,  unlit  by 
revelation's  guiding  and  cheering  light,  to  eternity. 
She  will  wait  another  year,  if  she  must,  while  the  same 
number  of  millions  complete  their  career  of  darkness : 
for  to  the  Pagan,  the  whole  course  of  life  lies  through 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  Reluctant  as  she 
may  be  to  wait,  yet  wait  she  will,  and  look  about  her, 
though  already  she  sees  what  sickens  her  heart,  if 
indeed  it  will  not  do.  But  will  it  not  do  1  Christian 
reader,  what  say  you  1  Ought  it  not  to  be  done  ?  I  ask 
your  attention  to  this  topic.  I  ask,  not  whether  the  con- 
templated resolution,  designating  twenty  years  for  the 
supply,  ought  not  to  be  immediately  adopted.  But  ought 
not  the  world  to  have  the  Bible  ?  Is  it  not  theirs  already  by 
grant  of  God  1 — and  only  not  theirs  in  fact,  through  the 
most  culpable  keeping  back  of  man  ?  Here  is  a  com- 
munication from  God,  endorsed  "  to  the  world."  "  Unto 
you,  O,  men,  I  call ;  and  my  voice  is  to  the  sons  of 
man."  And  ought  not  the  world  to  have  it  1  It  is 
directed  to  them.  Ought  it  not  to  be  delivered  to  them  1 
Are  they  not  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  opening  and 
reading  the  communication,  which  their  God  has  made 
to  them  1 

Nothing  can  be  more  plain  than  that  the  whole  world 
has  God's  warrant  for  possessing  the  Bible."  They 
have  a  right  to  it.  They  have  a  property  in  it.  It  is  as 
much  the  Hindoo's  and  the  Hottentot's  Bible — as  much 
the  Turk's  and  the  Tartar's,  as  it  is  your's  and  mine. 


WILLIAIVl    KEVINS,    D.  D.  265 

In  it,  God  speaks  as  really,  as  directly,  and  as  kindly 
to  each  of  them,  as  to  you  or  me.  Why  should  we 
have  it,  and  not  they  1  Does  it  not  strike  you  that 
God  ought  to  be  heard  by  as  many  as  he  speaks  unto  1 
That  the  publication  of  his  love  should  go  forth  far, 
and  be  spread  wide  as  that  love's  extent  1  If  "  God  so 
loved  the  icorld"  surely,  surely  the  world  should  be 
informed  of  that  stupendous  and  deeply  interesting  fact, 
And  if  he  who  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins,  is  also 
the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  certainly 
the  intelligence  of  that  death  should  be  circulated  far 
as  its  efficacy  may  extend,  and  "  all  the  ends  of  the 
earth"  should  know  who  it  is  that  says  to  them,  "look 
unto  me,  and  be  ye  saved." 

But  not  only  have  all  mankind  the  same  right  to  the 
Bible,  that  any  of  mankind  have  ;  and  not  only  is  it 
reasonable  that  they  should  hear  what  God  their 
Creator  says  to  them,  but  they  have  all  equal  need  of 
the  Bible.  It  contemplates  and  provides  for  a  case  that 
is  universal.  Does  any  son  or  daughter  of  Adam  need 
the  Bible?  Dost  thou?  Then,  for  the  same  reasons  that 
thou  dost,  or  any  one  does,  each  and  every  child  of  the 
apostacy  needs  it.  And  all  supremely,  intensely  need  it- 
need  nothing  so  much — need  nothing  in  comparison 
with  this.  It  tells  of  the  only  balm  for  the  universal 
and  fatal  disease  of  sin.  Oh,  if  there  was  another  balm 
of  equal  virtue,  issuing  from  some  other  fissure,  than  the 
cleft  of  the  rock  of  ages,  or  if  the  disease  was  not  ab- 
solutely universal ;  or  being  universal,  not  uniformly 
fatal,  but  for  the  application  of  this  one  remedy,  then 

the  case  would  not  be  so  strong  and  so  urgent.     I  ask 

23 


266  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

then,  ought  not  the  world  to  have  the  Bible — to  hear 
of  Jesus — to  be  informed  of  the  way  of  salvation  1 

Certainly  it  ought,  all  admit ;  but  of  this  number, 
many  ask,  with  more  of  doubt  in  their  tone  and  manner 
than  seems  to  befit  intelligent  and  well  informed  Chris- 
tians, "can  it  be  donel"  Can  it  be  done?  The  idea 
of  its  impracticability  seems  to  alarm  them.  It  ought  to 
be  done.  Oh,  yes  ;  but  can  it  be  done  1  There  are 
several  suggestions  with  which  I  would  attack,  and 
hope  to  dissipate  this  phantom  of  impracticability,  for  it 
is  but  a  phantom. 

1.  The  attempt  to  give  the  Bible  to  the  whole  world, 
ought  to  be  made,  if  for  no  other  reason,  to  put  its  prac- 
ticability to  the  test.  How  are  we  ever  to  know  whether 
it  can  or  cannot  be  done,  but  by  making  the  attempt  to 
do  it  1  Its  impracticability  can  never  be  demonstrated 
by  any  process  of  reasoning.  It  cannot  be  shown  to  be 
in  the  nature  of  things  impossible.  If  impracticable,  that 
can  only  be  known  as  the  result  of  actual  experiment. 
Let  us  then  make  the  experiment.  If  it  succeed,  we 
shall  not  regret  having  made  it ;  neither  shall  we,  if  it 
fail.  If  the  thing  cannot  be  done,  it  is  desirable  to 
know  that  it  cannot.  The  experiment  will  perhaps  in- 
form us  how  far  we  may  hope  to  extend  the  word  of 
God.  It  may  ascertain  the  limits  of  its  possible  diffusion, 
and  of  our  privilege  and  duty  in  spreading  it.  We  may 
learn,  and  we  would  like  to  know,  to  how  many  people 
we  may  hope  to  convey  the  "good  tidings  of  great  joy,'* 
which  the  precentor  of  the  angelic  choir  on  the  plains 
of  Bethlehem,  said  should  be  "  to  all  people."  If  when 
we  go  forth  with  the  word  of   God  in  our  hands,  we 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  267 

must  stop  short  of  "  the  ends  of  the  world,"  we  want 
to  know  how  far  short  we  must  stop, — into  how  much 
of  the  world  it  is  possible  to  "  go  and  preach  the  Gos- 
pel," and  how  many  nations  we  may,  without  being 
visionary,  hope  to  teach  and  disciple.  Until  this  ex- 
periment is  made,  who  has  a  right  to  pronounce  our 
scheme  impracticable  ?  There  exists  no  where,  as  yet, 
a  particle  of  p-oo/ that  it  cannot  be  done. 

2.  Though  the  experiment  to  make  the  Bible  univer- 
sal has  not  been  made,  yet  the  experiment  to  make 
mankind  universally  acquainted  with  the  Gospel  by 
other  means  has  been  tried,  and  the  result  of  that 
experiment  is  altogether  in  favor  of  the  practicability 
of  what  we  propose.  The  apostles  and  primitive  Chris- 
tians attempted  the  mighty  enterprise  of  the  world's 
conve/sion.  They  went  forth  with  the  whole  human 
family  as  their  object ;  and  though  their  number  was 
small,  their  resources  limited,  and  their  means  of  inter^ 
course  scanty,  yet  they  succeeded  in  what  they  under^ 
took.  Paul,  in  writing  to  the  Romans,  makes  this 
appeal,  "  Have  they  not  heard  1  Yes,  verily,  their 
sound  went  into  all  tlie  earth,  and  their  words  unto  the 
ends  of  the  world."  And  in  writing  to  the  Collossians, 
he  speaks  of  the  Gospel  as  "  in  all  the  world,"  and  as 
"preached  to  every  creature  which  is  under  heaven." 
Nor  was  this  any  greater  success  than  our  Saviour  had 
himself  predicted,  when  he  said,  "  And  this  Gospel  of 
the  kingdom  shall  be  preached  in  all  the  world,  for  a 
witness  unto  all  nations ;  and  then  shall  the  end  come." 
The  testimony  of  the  Pagan  Pliny,  to  the  extensive 
spread,  and  triumphant  success  of  the  Gospel,  almost 


268  SELECT    REMAINS     OF 

rivals  that  of  Paul,  So  then  it  appears  that  the  ex- 
periment in  one  form,  has  been  made,  and  has  succeed- 
ed; and  we  are  furnished  with  this  argument,  it  can  be 
done,  for  it  has  been  done.  I  know  it  will  be  said,  that 
the  apostolic  church  had  the  gift  of  tongues,  and  the 
power  of  working  miracles,  to  aid  them  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  their  enterprise.  But  their  success  was  not 
mainly  owing  to  these,  and  it  has  been  contended  that 
these,  so  far  from  giving  them  facilities  superior  to  ours, 
were  necessary  to  place  their  labors  on  a  level  with 
ours.  If  they  possessed  those  two  advantages  which  we 
have  not,  yet  we  possess  many  that  they  had  not.  One 
writer  enumerates  ten  distinct  particulars  in  which  our 
facilities  for  conducting  missionary  operations  exceed 
what  theirs  were.  And  as  it  respects  their  two,  if  we 
have  not  the  immediate  gift  of  tongues,  yet  we  have 
the  faculty  of  acquiring  languages;  and  if  we  cannot 
work  miracles,  yet  have  we  the  benefit  of  the  argument 
in  favor  of  Christianity,  which  their  miracles  furnish. 

3.  I  may  as  well  remark  in  this  place,  that  it  would 
be  strange  indeed,  if  our  Saviour  has  explicitly  com- 
manded us  to  do  what  cannot  be  done.  Why  said  he, 
"Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  if  we  cannot  go  so  far  1 
Why  "preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,"  if  it  is 
impossible  to  reach  every  creature  1  Why  "  teach  all 
nations,"  if  only  a  part  of  the  nations  can  be  taught  1 
Can  that  be  impracticable,  which  he  has  made  obliga- 
tory ? 

4.  There  is  nothing  in  the  nature  of  the  enterprise  to 
lead  to  the  suspicion  of  impracticability.  It  proposes 
nothing  miraculous  or  preternatural — nothing  of  a  kind 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  269 

different  from  what  has  already  been  done.  We  have 
supplied  a  whole  country  with  the  Bible.  To  supply 
the  world,  is  but  to  do  the  same  thing  on  a  larger  scale. 
We  have  found  the  nation's  supply  not  impracticable. 
If  we  find  the  world's  supply  impracticable,  it  will  be 
owing  not  to  the  nature,  but  to  the  magnitude  and  extent 
of  the  enterprise. 

5.  It  should  be  remembered,  that  it  is  not  proposed  to 
attempt  this  thing  in  human  strength,  and  in  reliance 
on  human  resources  alone.  The  question  is  not,  if  men 
can  do  it  trusting  entirely  to  their  own  wisdom  and 
might,  but  can  it  be  done  ?  Is  it  practicable  with  that 
help  which  may  be  expected  from  another  quarter  1 
Are  there  means  which  we  may  expect,  will  prove 
"  mighty  through  God,"  to  the  achievement  of  the 
enterprise  1 

6.  If  it  cannot  be  done,  why  can  it  not  1     Some  reason 

ought  to  be  given.     What  is  the  insuperable  obstacle  1 

Hath  not  every  nation  and  tribe  of  men  a  language  ? — 

and  if  it  have  not  been  already,  can  it  not  be  reduced 

to  a  written    language  1      Can  we  not  arrest  and  fix 

"the  flying  sound"?     Has  not  this  been  done  recently, 

with  respect  to  some,  who,  till  missionaries  visited  them, 

had  no  written  language  1 — and    cannot  the  Bible  be 

translated   into   these   languages  1     Will   any  one  say 

this  cannot  be  1    What !  other  books,  and  not  the  Bible  ; 

His  book,  who  is  the  author  of  language !     Already  it 

is  translated  into  the  languages  of  six  hundred  and  fifty 

millions  of  mankind.     The    Chinese  translation   alone, 

can  be  read  by  three  hundred  and  fifty  millions.     The 

translations  prepared  by  the  Baptist  missionaries   and 

23* 


270  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

others  in  the  east,  open  the  Bible  to  at  least  one  hun- 
dred millions  more.  Then  there  is  the  Arabic  transla- 
tion, the  Persic  translation,  and  one  for  Asiatic  Siberia^ 
now  in  the  press,  by  which  about  forty  millions,  not 
included  in  the  six  hundred  and  fifty,  will  be  supplied ; 
"  so  that  there  are  probably  not  more  than  seventy  or 
eighty  millions  without  a  translation,  and  perhaps  not 
fifty  who  have  a  written  or  printed  language,  without  a 
translation  in  part  or  in  whole."  The  Bible  being  trans- 
lated, can  be  printed  ;  and  being  printed,  can  be  cir- 
culated. Why  not  1  What  is  to  hinder  *? — Ah,  but  the 
expense  !  where  is  the  money  ever  to  be  obtained  1  The 
money  exists — and  it  is  all  of  it  the  Lord's,  whose  the 
Bible  is  : — and  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  it  in  trust, 
are  in  his  hand.  Which  of  us  can  He  not  incline,  and, 
if  the  ability  do  not  already  exist,  which  of  us  can  He 
not  enable  to  give  for  the  next  twenty  years  ten  times 
the  amount,  annually,  to  circulate  the  Bible,  that  we 
have  given  in  years  past  1  When  the  resolution  to 
supply  the  Union  was  taken,  the  probable  cost  alarmed 
many,  and  whence  the  money  was  to  come  perplexed 
and  distressed  many.  But  it  came.  There  was  no  lack. 
Christians  increased  their  gifts.  Are  they  now  the 
poorer  for  it  1  and  will  they  not  make  an  exertion  for 
the  world  1  Will  they  not  earn,  will  they  not  save,  will 
they  not  exhaust  their  income,  aye,  and  infringe  upon 
their  principal,  to  give  the  world  the  Word  of  Life  "?  I 
I  speak  of  Christians.  I  speak  not  of  the  men  of  the 
world,  but  of  the  men  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  know  they 
will — I  feel  that  they  will.  My  judgment  and  heart 
both  tell  me  they  will.     Oh  yes,  when  they  shall  be 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  271 

appealed  to  as  the  followers,  friends,  representatives, 
and  resemblances  of  Him,  who  being  rich,  became  poor 
for  their  sakes,  that  he  might  by  his  poverty  enrich 
them ;  and  when  it  shall  be  announced  to  them  that 
we  have  adopted  the  last  and  largest  resolution  which 
Christian   benevolence    can    take ;    a  resolution  which 
proposes  to  bear  the  good  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all 
people,  and  which   breathes  the  very  sentiment  of  the 
song  in    which    the    multitude    of  the    heavenly   host 
united,  "  good  will  to  men ;"  when  we  shall  be  able  to 
tell  them  that  now  we  have  determined  to  go  into  all 
the  world,  to  convey  the  Gospel  to  every  creature,  to 
pour  the  light  on  every  land,  and  break  the  news  of 
mercy  and  salvation  in  every  ear  ;  and  that  we  mean 
to  render  the  name,  and   translate  the  story  of  Jesus 
into  every  language  of  mortals,  and  to  pass  the  cup  of 
blessing  round  the  entire  circle  of  the  earth,  will  there 
not  be  a  feeling  kindled  in  every  redeemed  bosom,  such 
as  never  before  warmed  it,  and  will  they  not  pledge  us 
their   prayers,   their  efforts,   their   resources,   and   their 
sacrifices  ?     I  am  sure  they  will.     How  shall  they  not  1 
I  cannot  say  how  much  the  enterprise  will  cost.    Mil- 
lions of  money,  doubtless.     But  what  if  it  does  1     Hath 
never   any   thing  as   yet   cost   millions?     Do  millions 
frighten  men  of  the  world  1     Doth  it  deter  them  from 
an   undertaking,  that  it  will  cost  millions  1     Are   not 
some  of  them,  aye,  and  some  professed  followers  of  the 
Saviour,  themselves  alone,  worth  millions  1     What  if 
the  universal  spread  of  the  Bible  should  cost  as  much 
as  one  year's  interest  of  the  national  debt  of  England  ? 
What  if  our  proportion  of  the  work  should  cost  as  much 


272  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

as  the  private  fortunes  of  some  four  or  five  individuals  1 
What  if  it  should  cost  one  fiftieth  part  of  the  value  of 
the  property  in  a  single  city  1  What  if  the  expense  of 
this  enterprise  of  peace  should  amount  to  one  twentieth 
part  of  the  cost  of  one  war  1  The  last  short  conflict  of 
America  with  England,  cost  us  two  hundred  millionSj 
and  our  antagonist,  it  is  presumed,  no  less.  Did  it 
break  the  parties  1  Would  it  ruin  them,  if  they  were  to 
spend  as  much,  in  united  efforts  under  the  Captain  of 
salvation]  Would  it  bankrupt  these  two  nations  if  they 
should  resolve  in  concert,  to  evangelize  the  world  1 

But  what  if  the  money  be  obtained,  and  the  Bibles 
printed  and  paid  for,  how  are  they  to  be  distributed  1 
How  can  the  destitute  be  reached*?  Who  will  act  as 
agents  ]  Where  will  you  find  your  men  1  Some  of 
them  are  already  on  the  foreign  field  waiting  for  the 
Bible  to  follow  them.  Some  have  been  distributing  the 
blessed  book,  and  now  they  call  for  more  copies.  There 
are  native  converts,  and  there  will  be  more,  who  will 
gladly  engage  in  the  work  of  distribution.  As  one  reads 
and  obtains  the  blessing,  he  will  pass  the  book  to 
another,  and  recommend  it  to  a  third.  The  first  ten 
years  will  create  and  diffuse  a  spirit,  we  may  expect, 
which  will  render  the  labor  of  the  last  ten  comparative- 
ly easy.  The  diffusion  of  the  Bible  creates  a  demand 
for  the  Bible.  Besides,  the  work  will  not  require  so 
very  large  a  number  of  agents.  See  in  the  instance  of 
Gutzlaff,  in  China,  how  much  one  agent  can  accom- 
plish— how  much  space,  even  in  one  year,  he  can  travel 
over,  and  how  many  Bibles  judiciously  distribute.  Con- 
sider also,  how  much  one  man.  Dr.  Patterson,  has  done 


AVILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  273 

in  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  nortli  of 
Europe,  and  around  the  Baltic.  But  how  are  the 
heathen  in  the  heart  of  Asia,  and  in  central  Africa  to 
be  reached  1  If  they  cannot  be  reached,  they  fall  not 
within  the  proposed  resolution.  It  contemplates  only 
the  supply  of  the  accessible  population  of  the  world. 
There  is  an  immense  population  already  accessible,  and 
some  of  these  have  but  recently  become  accessible.  God 
is  opening  the  world  to  his  word.  Enough  is  accessible 
to  begin  with,  and  who  can  doubt  that  as  we  go  on, 
the  openings  will  be  multiplied  1  May  not  the  essayists 
of  the  world's  conversion,  calculate  on  the  countenance 
and  co-operation  of  the  God  of  Providence,  as  they 
move  forward  in  the  work  to  which  he  has  called  them? 
Is  not  our  Jesus,  at  whose  command  we  proceed,  head 
over  all  things  to  the  Church  ?  And  shall  he  not  reign 
till  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet "? 

Oh,  it  can  be  done.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it.  Even 
reason  pronounces  it  possible.  I  do  not  say  that  it  will 
be  done,  though  the  resolution  to  do  it  should  be  adopt- 
ed. Twenty  years  may  pass  away,  aye,  forty,  sixty, 
and  the  work  not  be  done  ;  and  the  Church  may  have 
to  look  back  with  blushes  and  tears  on  her  neglected, 
broken  resolution.  The  work  is  not  be  done  by  a 
simple  resolution  to  do  it,  but  by  the  consentaneous, 
appropriate,  and  persevering  action  of  those  who  agree 
to  the  resolution,  this  action  commencing  immediately 
on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution,  and  proceeding  vigor- 
ously from  year  to  year. 

The  position  I  am  now  endeavoring  to  establish,  is, 
that  it  can  be  done,  and  if  another  argument  be  needed 


274  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

for  the  conviction  of  any  mind,  I  have  it — it  is  derived 
from  prophecy.  I  argue  its  practicability  from  its 
certain  futurity.  It  can  be  done,  because  it  shall  be 
done.  Yes,  it  shall  be  done.  All  people  shall  be 
accessible  to  the  word  of  God,  and  it  shall  be  con- 
veyed to  all.  Every  family  shall  one  day  possess 
in  its  own  native  tong-ue,  a  copy  of  the  Bible,  and 
this  book  of  light  and  love  shall  be  brought  within  the 
reach  of  every  hand.  Every  breeze  that  blows,  shall 
waft  the  name  of  Jesus,  every  valley  shall  be  vocal 
with  it — echo  from  every  hill  shall  reverberate  it.  It 
shall  fall  soft  and  soothing  on  every  ear  of  man;  and 
I  trust  this  name,  "  That  calms  our  fears,  and  bids  our 
sorrows  cease,"  shall  even  be  precious  and  peaceful  to 
every  heart,  while  every  mother  shall  sit  and  hush  her 
babe  to  slumber  with  the  hymn  that  tells  of  his  love 
and  sorrows.  Yes,  it  shall  be.  "  The  earth  shall  be 
full  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  as  the  waters  cover 
the  sea,  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  It 
shall  be  done.  This  settles  the  question  of  practi- 
cability. 

Now  I  would  observe,  that  whenever  it  is  done,  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  its  beginning  will  be 
such  as  is  now  proposed.  Hoio  is  it  to  be  done,  by  what 
agency  we  know.  If  men  are  not  to  do  it,  why  have 
they  received  a  command  to  do  it  1  If  the  nations  are 
to  be  taught  Christianity  in  some  other  way,  it  is  mar- 
vellous that  those  who  are  not  to  do  it,  have  received  in- 
structions to  do  it.  If,  as  some  affirm,  God  will  do  this 
work  in  his  own  time  and  way,  is  it  not  strange  that  he 
should  have  set  men  to  do  his  work,  and  directed  them 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  275 

to  go  about  it  immediately  1  Had  not  this  work  been 
made  to  depend  in  a  measure  on  men's  agency,  no 
reason  can  be  given  why  it  should  not  have  been  done 
ere  this.  Had  God  designed  to  effect  it  without  employ- 
ing subordinate  agents,  why  has  he  not  done  it  1  Why 
has  not  something  at  least  been  accomplished  without 
human  agency  ?  Or  if  he  meant  to  employ  other  agents 
than  men,  why  has  he  not  before  this,  sent  them  to  the 
world,  and  set  them  to  their  task.  But  it  is  plain  men 
are  to  do  it.  And  they  are  to  do  it  in  their  usual  way 
of  doing  things.  They  are  to  go  and  teach  and  preach  ; 
and  since  the  art  of  printing  has  been  invented,  they 
are  to  avail  themselves  of  that  wonderful  facility  for 
extending  and  perpetuating  knowledge.  They  are  to 
make  the  Bible  universal  as  they  would  make  any  other 
book  universal.  The  only  difference  is,  that  in  the 
case  of  the  Bible,  they  have  encouragements  and  ad- 
vantages which,  in  giving  circulation  to  any  other  book, 
they  could  not  have.  They  have  the  command  of  God 
to  give  it  to  the  world.  They  have  his  promise  that  he 
will  be  with  them  in  the  work ;  and  he  assures  them  of 
ultimate  success. 

Men  are  to  do  it,  and  in  no  mysterious  manner,  but  in 
this  plain  way.  And  when  the  work  is  undertaken, 
there  will  be  no  new  and  extraordinary  call  to  engage 
in  it ;  but  it  will  be  done  in  obedience  to  the  well 
known  and  long  neglected  command.  The  obligation 
which  has  always  existed,  will  only  then  begin  to  be 
felt.  Again,  when  the  great  work  is  undertaken,  it  is 
not  at  all  probable  that  there  will  be  any  thing  in  the 
aspect  of  Providence  more  inviting  or  more  auspicious 


276  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

than  there  is  now.  It  Avill  be  attempted  under  dis- 
couragements, we  presume,  as  great  as  any  that  are 
felt  at  present.  And  whenever  the  resolution  is  adopt- 
ed, however  late,  it  will  appear  to  many  extravagant 
and  rash.  It  will  alarm  some.  It  will  excite  the  de- 
rision of  others ;  and  many  a  prudent  counsellor  will 
advise  to  further  delay.  Was  there  ever  unanimity  and 
extensive  co-operation,  in  the  beginning  of  a  great 
enterprise  1  There  will  not  be  in  this.  It  must  not  be 
waited  for.  The  thing  has  commenced  precisely  as  it 
should  have  commenced.  It  has  commenced  as  the 
American  revolution  commenced,  and  as  the  effort  for 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  commenced — small, 
still,  and  among  a  few.  It  was  conceived  in  one  mind. 
That  mmd  communicated  it  to  others.  They  consider- 
ed and  concurred  in  it.  It  passed  to  others,  and  they 
approved.  Then  in  their  associated  capacities,  they  ex- 
pressed their  approbation  and  recorded  their  pledges — 
ecclesiastical  bodies,  and  subordinate  Bible  Societies, 
here  the  matter  stands.  We  are  waiting  now  for  the 
great  Bible  Societies  to  resolve  and  act.  ^nd  they  will 
do  it.  Yes,  they  will  frame  and  pass  resolutions  com- 
prehending the  world. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  will  resolve 
to  do  her  part,  and  other  Societies  will  agree  to  take 
their  proportion.  On  some  second  Thursday  of  May,  a 
resolution  will  be  introduced  before  the  assembled 
American  Bible  Society,  and  unanimously  carried,  to 
engage  forthwith  with  others,  in  the  too  long  neglected 
work  of  furnishing  the  world  with  the  word  of  life.  It 
may  not  be  in  1835,  nor  in  1836,  but  it  will  be.     And  I 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  277 

think  it  nearly  certain  that  the  American  Bible  Society- 
will  be  foremost  in  the  resolution;  but  not  because  she 
is  first  in  strength,  and  in  zeal,  for  she  delights  to  honor 
another  as  her  superior  in  both  these  respects,  and  she 
iDOuld  not  be  first  in  this  enterprise,  if  she  thought  her 
act  could  justly  be  attributed  to  the  ambition  of  pre- 
cedence. But  God  put  the  conception  first  into  her 
heart,  and  why  should  not  she  move  first,  whom  he  first 
moved  1  There  are  reasons  of  weight  why  she  should 
lead  in  the  resolution;  and  it  is  presumed  that  no 
jealousy  can  be  felt  any  where.  She  has  done  already, 
what  courtesy  required.  She  has  opened  her  mind  to 
her  sisters  across  the  water,  and  they  have  the  opportu- 
nity, if  they  please,  of  acting  simultaneously  with  her. 
Let  them  now  act  as  their  judgment  shall  dictate,  and 
let  us  feel  that  it  is  our  privilege  and  duty  to  do  the 
same. 

I  have  said  that  the  resolution  will  sometime  be 
adopted.  The  enterprise  must  commence  with  a  de- 
claration of  united  determination  to  do  it.  The  only 
question  is,  whether  the  resolution  shall  be  adopted 
now,  or  some  three,  five,  ten,  or  twenty  years  hence. 
Now  for  the  delay  of  this  number  of  years,  some  very 
good  reasons  ought  to  be  assigned.  The  advantages 
of  waiting  ought  to  be  very  decided  and  obvious.  What 
are  they  ?  Will  more  information  be  obtained  1  But  is 
it  needed  1  Already  we  are  informed  that  the  world 
lieth  in  wickedness,  and  that  there  is  salvation  in  no 
other  than  Christ ;  and  we  know  what  is  to  be  done, 
and  hoiD  it  is  to  be  done,  and  who  are  to  do  it.  Our  own 
duty  is   obvious.     I   see   not  why  we   should  wait   for 

24 


278  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

more  information.  Shall  we  wait  to  see  what  others 
will  do  1  And  why  should  not  they  wait  to  see  what 
we  will  do  1  And  what  if  we  all  wait  for  each  other  1 
Others  may  wait  with  more  propriety  than  we,  for  we 
are  committed  to  act  first.  But  it  is  said,  "  This  is  a 
great  undertaking.  It  should  be  entered  upon  with 
deliberation.  Let  the  Church  have  a  little  more  time 
to  think  of  it  and  pray  over  it."  She  has  or  ought  to 
have  been  long  thinking  of  it.  I  know  not  why  she 
wants  more  time  for  thought.  Is  not  her  duty  mani- 
fest ?  Is  not  the  mode  of  accomplishing  it  manifest? 
And  as  for  prayer,  if  she  has  prayed  as  her  Lord  has 
taught  her,  she  has  always  been  praying  for  the  very 
thing  which  the  proposed  resolution  contemplates. 
Daily  have  her  children  been  saying,  "Thy  kingdom 
come.  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth,  (the  whole  earth) 
as  in  heaven,"  where  it  is  done  universally.  It  is  time 
she  had  resolved  to  do  in  the  strength  of  God,  what  she 
has  so  long  been  expressing  her  desire  to  have  done.  It 
is  time  her  resolutions,  her  aims,  and  her  efforts  were  as 
comprehensive,  and  as  far-reaching  as  her  prayers.  I 
know  not  why  she  should  pray  that  God's  will  may  be 
known  an.l  done  more  extensively,  than  she  is  laboring 
in  dependance  on  him,  to  make  it  known  and  to  cause 
it  to  be  done.  Is  she  instructed  to  pray  for  the  conver- 
sion of  the  world  1 — she  is  also  directed  to  labor  for  it. 
She  may  as  well  limit  her  prayers  as  her  labors.  If  she 
prays  for  the  whole,  she  should  act  for  the  whole  ;  and 
let  it  be  remembered,  that  the  most  effectual  prayer  is 
not  that  which  precedes,  but  that  which  attends  action. 
We  have  prayed  for  the  world,  without  acting  for  the 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  279 

world,  long  enough.  Now  let  us  pray  and  act.  Will 
any  one  say,  the  thing  has  been  put  off  so  long,  that 
now  the  delay  of  a  few  years  is  not  worthy  of  considera- 
tion 1  It  may  not  be  to  us  who  have  the  Bible  ;  but  to 
those  who  have  it  not,  the  delay  may  be  of  great  con- 
sideration. Fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  Pagans  have 
died  since  the  initiatory  resolution  of  last  year.  Death 
did  not  suspend  his  operations  while  we  enquired  and 
corresponded.  He  went  on  with  his  work,  though  we 
thought  it  prudent  to  pause  in  ours.  And  he  will  go  on 
this  year.     He  will  not  wait  with  us. 

A  question  affects  us  differently,  as  we  vary  the  state- 
ment of  it.  "  Shall  we  wait  another  year  or  two  *? " — is 
the  form  in  which  it  presents  itself  to  one  ;  and  he 
thinks  we  had  better  wait.  But  in  the  thoughts  of 
another,  the  question  takes  this  shape,  "  Shall  we  let 
twenty  or  forty  millions  more  go  to  eternity,  before  we 
resolve  to  arise  and  go  to  them?"  I  must  acknowledge, 
that  I,  for  one,  feel  a  pity  for  the  present  generation  of 
heathen.  I  feel  as  if  we  ought  to  attempt  something 
for  the  world  that  now  is.  If  those  who  are  groping 
their  way  through  darkness  to  the  darker  gi'ave,  knew 
the  value  of  the  Bible,  and  could  overhear  us  delibera- 
ting whether  to  enter  on  the  work  of  its  universal  diff'u- 
sion  now,  or  some  years  hence,  how  would  their  hearts 
sink  within  them,  when  they  should  find  the  weight  of 
opinion  inclining  to  delay  1 

But  what  will  be  the  effect  of  adopting  the  proposed 
resolution  1  Does  any  one  doubt  that  this,  if  nothing 
else,  will  be  the  effect; — that  Christians  in  America, 
will  do  more,  much  more  in  spreading  the  Scriptures, 


280  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

than  they  have  hitherto  done,  though  they  should  not 
accomplish  their  resolution  to  the  letter  1  And  is  it  not 
both  possible  and  desirable  that  they  should  do  more  1 
But,  it  may  be  asked,  would  not  a  narrower  resolution 
lead  to  this  increase  of  contribution  and  effort  1 — why 
not,  if  the  object  is,  that  Christians  should  do  more,  just 
resolve  that  we  will  do  more  1  But  did  ever  a  resolu- 
tion so  indefinite  accomplish  any  thing  1  Does  any  one 
suppose,  that  a  resolution  so  general  and  pointless, 
could  ever  reach  and  rouse  the  energies  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  ?  When  was  any  thing  great  ever  achieved 
without  a  distinct  aim  and  definite  object  1 

But  why  at  once  propose  and  present  so  large  an  ob- 
ject] Can  we  not  give  it  definiteness  without  making 
it  the  whole  world  1  Why  not  resolve  to  suppl)'^  Amer- 
ica, or  Africa,  or  some  one  of  the  great  empires  of  Asia] 
Why  the  whole  world  1  I  answer,  that  the  latter  is 
a  more  scriptural  object  than  the  others.  Our  first  duty 
was  to  provide  for  our  own.  That  we  have  done  ;  and 
having  done  that — having  passed  the  limits  which 
patriotism  defines,  it  now  behooves  us  to  go  forth  in  the 
spirit  of  philanthrophy,  whose  object  is  man,  and  her 
limits  only  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Next  to  our  country, 
stands  the  world.  The  transition  from  the  one  to  the 
other  should  be  immediate.  And  why  should  this 
phrase,  the  world,  the  whole  world,  surprise  us  as  if  it 
were  a  novelty  1  Why  should  its  magnitude  alarm  us  1 
What  phrase  is  more  familiar  to  the  Bible  1  It  is  no 
modern  conception.  I  find  it  in  the  proclamation  of 
the  Father's  love.  I  find  it  designating  the  extent  of 
the  Saviour's  sacrifice.      The  forerunner  of  Christ,  in 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  281 

pointing  him  out  as  the  Lamb  of  God,  uses  it.  I  find 
it  in  the  angelic  anthem.  I  find  it  in  connexion  with 
the  command  of  Christ,  which  constitutes  our  commis- 
sion. That  which  bids  us  go  out  at  all,  bids  us  go  into 
all  the  world  ;  and  we  have  no  promise  of  the  Saviour 
that  he  will  go  any  distance  with  us,  but  one  which 
assures '  of  his  company  through  all  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  earth.  And  finally,  a  phrase  of  corres- 
ponding import  is  incorporated  into  our  directory  for 
prayer.  And  now  shall  we  be  afraid  to  incorporate  this 
most  scriptural  phrase  into  an  humble  resolution  ?  Shall 
it  stand  in  connexion  with  every  thing  but  our  aims  and 
efforts  ]  Really  we  ought  not  to  be  so  frightened  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  whole  world,  as  a  field  and  object. 
If  any  thing  should  alarm  us,  it  is  the  command,  so 
long  neglected  by  us,  and  not  the  resolution  now  to 
attempt  obedience  to  it.  What  do  we  in  undertaking 
this  great  enterprise,  but  turn  Christ's  command  into  a 
resolution  1  He  has  said,  "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  ;" 
and  we  unite  in  saying,  "  Resolved,  that  we  Avill  go  ;" 
and  we  may  add,  "  Resolved,  that  we  are  confident  the 
author  of  the  command,  will  be  with  us  always,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Is  it  unreasonable  or  dan- 
gerous to  agree  to  make  the  attempt  to  do,  so  far  as  the 
known  plan  of  God  contemplates  the  use  of  our  agency, 
what  we  are  explicitly  commanded  to  do,  and  directed 
to  pray  that  it  may  be  done?  We  do  not  resolve  to  open 
the  way — to  make  the  population  of  the  world  accessi- 
ble, but  to  move  forward  in  the  path  which  Providence 
has  opened  and  is  opening  ;   and  to  reach  what  he  has 

rendered  accessible.     We  do  not  resolve  that  our  lives 

24* 


282  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

shall  be  prolonged,  or  that  our  zeal  shall  hold  out,  and 
burn  pure,  and  high,  and  constant.  For  that  we  de- 
pend on  him,  in  whom,  both  as  men  and  as  Christians, 
we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being.  We  do  not  resolve 
that  we  will  stir  up  the  hearts  of  other  Christians,  and 
engage  them  to  feel  and  act  with  us.  Our  confidence 
for  sympathy  and  co-operation  is  in  Him,  who  has  all 
hearts  in  his  hand.  We  expect  his  assistance  and  coun- 
tenance at  every  step  and  turn.  We  count  upon  his 
smile  and  blessing.  We  do  not  expect  a  welcome  from 
the  heathen,  except  as  he  shall  give  it.  Is  it  presump- 
tion to  rely  on  him  for  so  much  1  Has  he  not  invited 
such  confidence  ?     Will  he  ever  disappoint  it  ? 

Why  then  should  we  hesitate  to  frame  and  adopt  a 
resolution  embracing  the  world — that  definite  object 
which  the  Lord  Jesus  himself  defined  ? 

The  history  of  the  progress  of  the  Bible  seems  to  me 
to  call  for  some  such  resolution.  That  history  has  been 
most  interesting  and  indeed  astonishing.  It  is  nearly 
eighteen  hundred  years  since  the  Bible  was  completed. 
It  is  four  hundred  years  since  the  art  of  printing  was 
invented.  And  yet  in  1782,  more  than  seventeen  hun- 
dred years  after  the  canon  of  inspiration  was  closed, 
and  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  that  art  was 
known,  by  which  the  word  of  God  is  capable  of  indefi- 
nite multiplication  ;  in  1782,  only  about  fifty  years  ago, 
the  following  fact  occurred  :  Robert  Aitken,  a  book- 
seller of  Philadelphia,  having  obtained  a  long  preamble 
and  resolution  from  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
setting  forth  the  difficulties  of  printing  the  Bible  in  the 
United  States,  and  pledging  the  national  treasury  for  a 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  283 

certain  amount,  ventured  to  publish  an  edition  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  J^ow  there  is  no  undertaking  which 
requires  less  daring.  There  is  no  book  which  it  is  so 
profitable  to  publish.  It  was  predicted  that  Bible  So- 
cieties would  injure  private  booksellers.  But  just  the 
contrary  has  been  the  result.  The  sales  from  the  book- 
stores have  kept  even  pace  with  the  issues  from  the 
Bible  Societies.  It  was  mentioned  at  the  meeting 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  last  year,  that  one 
house  had,  in  the  space  of  a  few  months,  sold  twelve 
thousand  Bibles.  I  asked  a  bookseller  how  many  he 
had  sold  of  a  particular  edition.  He  told  me  the  as- 
tounding number,  but  begged  me  not  to  repeat  it.  I 
suppose  he  felt  that  he  was  reaping  a  rich  harvest, 
which  he  did  not  care  that  others  should  come  in  to 
share  with  him.  We  see  here  how  private  enterprise 
and  public  charity  go  along  together  in  the  circulation 
of  the  Scriptures.  And  private  enterprise  may  be  relied 
on  to  supply  the  nations  to  some  extent ;  perhaps  to 
the  extent  of  one  third  of  the  Bibles  wanted.  You 
may  resolve  to  do  the  work,  but  you  will  not  have  to 
do  it  all.  You  will  not  be  permitted  to  engross  it.  It 
is  but  to  create  a  demand  by  benevolence,  and  selfish- 
ness will  be  sure  to  aid  in  supplying  it.  The  principal 
progress  that  has  been  made  in  the  sale  and  distribution 
of  the  Scriptures,  has  occurred  not  in  the  last  fifty,  but 
in  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years.  Now  the  question  is 
whether  this  progress  shall  continue — whether  there 
shall  be  any  thing  like  a  corresponding  advance  in  the 
next  twenty  years.  I  see  not  how  there  can  be,  unless 
some  such  resolution  is  adopted,  as  that  we  propose. 


284  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

We  are  not  going  forward  now.  We  are  going  back- 
ward. We  have  no  great  resolution  now  to  fulfil.  That 
is  the  reason  of  it.     We  have  no  high  aim. 

During  the  year  1830,  the  American  Bible  Society 
expended  $166,036,48,  the  next  year  $142,658,81, 
and  last  year  $86,362,25.  Now  ought  there  not  to  be 
some  existing  resolution  to  keep  up  the  annual  income 
and  expenditure  to  that  amount  which  it  has  once 
reached,  and  indeed  to  carry  it  greatly  beyond  that  1  Is 
not  the  number  of  Christians  increasing  every  year,  and 
their  wealth  too,  every  year  increasing  1  Ought  not  their 
contributions  to  be  augmented  also  1 

Will  it  be  said  that  the  year  referred  to  was  a  year 
of  exigency — that  a  great  work  had  been  undertaken 
and  was  going  on,  and  it  was  necessary  to  sustain  it  by 
extraordinary  contribution  1 — and  ought  not  every  year 
to  be  felt  to  be  a  year  of  exigency,  while  the  world  is 
not  supplied  with  the  Bible  1  And  is  not  the  exigency 
created  by  the  world's  want,  greater  than  that  created 
by  our  country's  ]  Not  only  because  the  destitute  are 
more  numerous,  but  because  the  destitution  is  deeper 
and  more  entire.  Then  we  were  supplying  those  who 
were  not  altogether  without  the  means  of  knowing 
what  Christianity  is.  But  they  who  remain  to  be  sup- 
plied, not  only  know  not  what  Christianity  is,  but  are 
without  the  means  of  informing  themselves.  Does  not 
this  create  a  case  of  exigency  ? 

Was  a  great  work  going  on  when  that  large  amount 
was  paid  in  1  And  ought  not  a  greater  work  to  be  going 
on  now  ?  Why  was  that  work  undertaken  1  Was  it 
done  in  obedience  to  any  more  distinct  call  of  God,  than 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  285 

that  which  now  summons  us  to  the  supply  of  the  world? 
Ought  that  amount  of  contribution  which  was  made 
during  the  two  years  in  which  we  were  occupied  with 
the  country's  supply,  to  be  extraordinary  1  Can  it  not  be 
borne  by  the  Church  and  by  the  country,  as  an  ordinary 
thing  1  Cannot  either  bear  much  more  1  It  could  be 
borne,  and  much  more,  even  if  the  money  were  all 
transported  in  specie.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Much 
of  it  will  pay  for  labor  done  at  home.  Can  it  be  borne  *? 
What  a  question  to  ask  !  A  single  city  of  our  country, 
and  she  but  the  fourth  in  wealth,  has  been  able  to  bear 
the  expenditure  of  millions  on  a  public  work,  from 
which  as  yet,  but  very  small  returns  have  been  made  ; 
and  she  finds  no  difficulty  in  bearing  it.  She  hardly 
knows  that  she  has  expended  it,  and  could  bear  to  lose 
it  all. 

There  is  an  impression,  not  only  existing  on  the  minds 
of  men  of  the  world,  but  far  from  being  effaced  from  the 
minds  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  that  men  cannot  afford 
to  give  in  any  proportion  to  what  they  can  afford  to 
spend.  They  who  feel  that  they  can  afford  to  spend 
thousands,  and  not  for  the  necessaries  and  common  com- 
forts of  life,  but  in  perilous  adventiue — in  uncertain 
speculation,  feel  that  they  cannot  afford  to  give  even 
tens.  It  is  a  mistake  that  must  be  corrected.  If  they 
can  make  such  large  and  daring  expenditures,  they  can 
give  in  some  proportion  to  it.  And  men  feel  that  the}"" 
can  afford  to  sustain  great  losses,  otherwise  they  would 
not  run  such  large  risks,  but  to  make  large  donations 
they  are  too  poor.  I  know  one  who  recently  lost  five 
thousand  dollars,  and  he  said,  "  I  care  nothing  for  it," 


286  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

and  he  spoke  the  truth.  Now  that  man  could  have 
afforded  to  give  that  amount  to  a  Bible  Society,  But 
his  impression  was,  that  to  that  cause  he  could  not 
afford  to  give  more  than  about  fifty  dollars.  The  truth 
is,  there  is  nothing  we  can  afford  to  do  more  largely  and 
liberally  than  to  give  into  the  treasury  of  the  God  of 
providence. 

Our  blessed  Master  and  model  left  an  example  of 
giving,  which  his  disciples  have  been  slow  to  imitate. 
What  proportion  gave  hel  A  hundredth  ?  A  tenth  ? 
One  half?  He  gave  all.  He  reserved  nothing.  He 
was  rich,  and  became  poor  for  our  sakes — gave  till  he 
had  given  all.  And  what  was  the  consequence  1  Why, 
the  very  consequence  which  the  prudent  now  predict 
and  deprecate — personal  poverty.  He  had  not  where 
to  lay  his  head.  He  parted  with  all  his  accommoda- 
tions, in  order  to  give  the  world  salvation. 

I  do  verily  believe  that  Christians  could,  without  any 
inconvenient  economy,  save  what  would  purchase  Bibles 
for  the  world  in  a  very  few  years.  I  believe,  that  with- 
out any  additional  labor,  that  would  be  injurious  to 
them,  they  could  earn  what  would  do  it.  Give  us  what 
is  lost  in  lotteries.  Give  us  what  is  consumed  in  wines. 
Give  us  but  a  part  of  what  is  appropriated  to  make  and 
keep  men  drunkards.  There  are  a  hundred  sources 
from  any  one  of  which  we  might  get  funds  for  the 
world's  supply  with  the  word  of  God.  And  shall  it  be 
said,  *'  it  cannot  be  done — it  ought  not  to  be  under- 
taken" 1  It  can  be  done.  Can  every  thing  else  be  done, 
and  not  this  *?  Can  a  war  be  waged,  a  canal  be  dug, 
a    railroad    constructed  1 — and    cannot    the   world   be 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  287 

supplied  with  the  Bible  1  Secularize  the  statement  of 
the  object.  Then  propose  it  to  the  men  of  the  world, 
and  ask  them  if  it  cannot  be  done.  It  can  be  done  ; 
and  it  must  be  done.  If  necessity  ever  existed,  it  exists 
in  this  case. 

But  why  resolve  to  accomplish  the  work  in  twenty 
years  1  Why  designate  any  number  of  years  1  And  if 
any,  why  twenty  1  Why  not  give  time  enough,  and 
say  forty  or  sixty  1 

There  are  several  reasons  in  favor  of  twenty.  There 
is,  in  the  first  place,  a  greater  agreement  on  that  num- 
ber, than  could  probably  be  obtained  for  any  other. 
Besides,  we  propose  to  resolve  what  we  will  do,  not  what 
our  successors  shall.  If  we  say  forty  years,  the  great 
majority  of  us  will  not  be  here  to  act  on  the  resolution, 
the  last  moity  of  those  years.  Again,  our  object  is  to 
do  something  for  the  existing  generation  of  heathen, 
and  if  that  is  done,  it  must  be  done  within  twenty 
years.  Moreover,  we  find  that  much  may  be  achieved 
in  twenty  years  by  human  enterprise  alone;  and  may  not 
much  more  by  faith  which  "overcometh  the  world"?" 
See  how  much  the  men  of  the  world  can  do  in  twenty 
years — what  magnificent  works  construct — what  im- 
portant conquests  make — how  change  the  physical  and 
political  aspect  of  things  in  a  whole  nation — and  can- 
not the  men  of  God  do  as  much  1 

We  scarcely  need  do  more  the  next  twenty  years,  lo 
accomplish  our  object,  than  was  done  the  last  twenty, 
in  comparison  with  the  twenty  which  preceded.  Is  it 
impossible  for  us  to  do  as  much  more  the  next  twenty 
vears,   than   we  did  the  last,   as  in   the   last,   we   did 


288  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

more  than  in  the  twenty  which  preceded?  Cannot  we 
keep  up  this  ratio  of  increase  1  It  is  only  necessary  to 
do  so,  and  our  part  of  the  great  work  is  done. 

But  there  is  another  consideration  which  pleads,  if 
not  for  twenty  years,  yet  for  a  shorter  term.  It  is  that 
after  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  we  may  calculate, 
as  I  allow  myself  to  think,  on  a  more  abundant  blessing 
from  God,  than  the  world  has  ever  yet  experienced. 
Since  my  thoughts  have  been  turned  to  this  great  sub- 
ject, it  hath  occurred  to  me  that  probably  some  such 
movement  as  that  which  is  now  contemplated,  is  all 
that  is  wanting  on  the  part  of  the  Church,  to  that  full 
proving  of  God,  which  is  to  be  followed  by  the  opening 
of  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  the  pouring  out  of  a 
blessing  upon  her,  such,  that,  she  not  having  room  to 
receive  it,  it  shall  flow  forth  to  the  world.  The  Church 
has  never  yet  fully  proved  God.  She  has  always  pro- 
posed and  attempted  less  than  he  has  required.  She 
has  never  taken  the  Bible,  and  gone  out  with  it,  intend- 
ing to  go  into  all  the  world,  and  that  may  be  the  reason 
why  Christ  has  been  no  more  with  her.  How  can  we 
expect  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise,  "  Lo,  I  am  with 
you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  vniless  we 
attempt  obedience  to  the  command  to  which  that  prom- 
ise stands  annexed  1  That  promise  was  intended  to 
encourage  those  who  should  make  the  conversion  of  the 
world  their  object.  And  we  may  well  suppose  that  its 
most  glorious  fulfilment  is  reserved  for  the  period  when 
Christians  shall  resolve  on  the  conversion  of  the  world. 

Does  any  one  doubt,  that  if  we  adopt  this  resolution, 
and  act  in  the  spirit  of  it,  its  object  will  be  accomplish- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  289 

ed,  provided  the  divine  influence  which  attends  our 
labors  be  as  abundant  as  was  that  which  attended  and 
gave  efficacy  to  tlie  labors  of  the  apostolic  age  1  With 
our  men,  and  means,  and  facilities,  and  their  humble 
sense  of  dependance  on  God,  and  looking  to  him  for  his 
blessing,  would  not  all  which  is  proposed,  be  accom- 
plished in  twenty  years  1  Well,  why  should  not  we 
cherish  a  similar  sense  of  dependance  on  God  ? — and 
expect  as  large  a  blessing  to  crown  our  efforts,  as  at- 
tended theirs  1  Will  never  again  the  Gospel  come  in 
such  power  to  the  hearts  of  men,  and  the  arm  of  the 
Lord  never  again  be  so  gloriously  revealed  for  salva- 
tion 1  Has  the  Gospel  achieved  its  greatest  victories 
already?  In  the  process  of  becoming  universal  in  its 
dominion  and  influence,  will  not  a  more  wonderful 
power  attend  it,  than  has  ever  attended  it  hitherto  1 
Will  not  God  hereafter  make  a  short  work  on  the  earth  1 
Does  not  that  prophecy,  which  declares  that  a  nation 
shall  be  born  in  a  day,  yet  remain  to  be  fulfilled  1  Who 
knows  but  the  period  of  its  fulfillment  may  fall  within 
the  next  twenty  years  1  And  if  it  shall,  twenty  years 
will  be  ample  for  the  accomplishment  of  our  resolution*? 

Does  any  one  fear  that  if  the  resolution  be  adopted, 
we  shall  not  be  able  to  answer  for  it  to  God  1  Will  the 
remembrance  of  it  be  a  new  terror  to  us  in  the  prospect 
of  going  to  the  judgment  seat  1  I  think  not.  But  if 
we  decline  to  adopt  it,  I  am  by  no  means  so  sure  that 
we  shall  stand  acquitted. 

If  the  resolution,  on  the  speedy  adoption  of  which  so 
many  hearts  are  set,  is  adopted,  and  fails  of  accomplish- 
ment, it  will  be  the  first  great  resolution  of  benevolence 

25 


290  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

that  has  ever  failed.  All  our  resolutions  up  to  this, 
have  been  accomplished.  Shall  that  which  proposes 
the  truly  Christian  object  of  the  world  fail  ]  It  may  fail. 
God  will  not  be  wanting  to  us;  but  we  may  be  wanting 
to  ourselves.  We  may  pass  the  resolution  in  the  spirit 
of  pride.  We  may  forget  where  our  strength  lies.  We 
may  go  forward  in  the  confidence  of  our  own  resources. 
But  we  shall  be  in  equal  danger  of  doing  this,  any 
number  of  years  hence.  I  confidently  trust,  that  He, 
whose  Spirit  suggested  the  resolution,  will  give  us 
grace  to  adopt  it,  if  at  all,  in  the  true  spirit  of  depen- 
dance  on  him.     In  that  case  it  cannot  fail. 

But  if  it  fail,  I  contend  that  it  is  more  glorious  to 
undertake  such  an  enterprise  and  fail,  than  to  decline 
undertaking  for  fear  of  failing.  Perhaps,  however. 
Christians  of  America,  are  not  prepared  for  this  resolu- 
tion. Perhaps,  should  it  be  adopted,  there  would  be  no 
great  accession  to  your  annual  income  ;  and,  peradven- 
ture,  it  would  be  found  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  years, 
that  Christians  of  this  age  have  not  that  love  for  Christ, 
and  that  faith  in  God,  and  that  good  will  to  men, 
which  alone  can  secure  the  sacrifices,  the  efforts  and 
the  treasures  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 
But  shall  it  be  sol  Friends  of  Jesus,  shall  it  be  so*? 
Christian  philanthropist,  shall  this  fear  be  realized  ?  I 
lay  the  cause  at  your  feet — the  cause  of  the  world — the 
cause  of  bleeding,  dying  humanity.  I  am  sure  you  will 
not  trample  on  it.  I  hope  you  will  take  it  up  and  lift  it 
high,  and  bear  it  on  to  victory,  speedy,  complete,  and 
glorious,  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  the  grace 
of  the  Spirit  of  God. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  291 


SALVATION    GREAT    AND    DIFFICULT. 

Some  think  and  represent  it  as  easy,  exceedingly 
easy  to  save  a  soul — to  bend  a  will — to  change  a  heart. 
Easy*?  It  is  God's  greatest  work.  Creation  is  not  so 
hard  a  work.  And  it  is  more  difficult  than  destruction. 
It  is  the  most  wonderful  species  of  resurrection.  With 
men  it  is  impossible;  and  with  God  barely  possible:  for 
the  righteous  are  scarcely  saved.  Here,  ye  sons  of 
God,  is  something  for  you  to  think  about,  thai  God,  in 
saving  a  single  soul,  putteth  forth  a  mightier  energy 
than  in  making  many  worlds  ;  that  in  order  to  bring 
you  to  a  saving  faith  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  persuade 
you  to  the  love  of  God,  a  greater  exertion  of  power  is 
requisite,  than  to  produce  the  most  stupendous  physical 
creation.  If  this  be  not  the  doctrine  of  the  Bible,  why 
did  the  Apostle  speak  of  the  "  exceeding  greatness  of 
his  power  to  usward  who  believe,  according  to  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power"?  We  sometimes,  and 
indeed  more  commonly  in  our  discourses,  treat  of  the 
moral  attributes  of  God,  displayed  in  the  salvation  of 
sinners,  of  the  divine  wisdom  and  goodness,  the  justice 
and  mercy  exhibited  in  the  conception  and  carrying  out 
of  the  wondrous  plan  of  redemption.  How  benevolent 
the  motive  !  How  wise  the  scheme  !  How  beautiful 
and  glorious  its  progressive  development ! — until  at 
length  on  Calvary,  the  Captain  of  our  salvation  said, 
*'  It  is  finished," — and  justice  and  mercy  met  and  em- 


292  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

braced  each  other, — God  was  glorified,  and  men  saved, 
and  death  died  by  death.  But  now  our  theme  is  the 
power  displayed  in  salvation.  And  mark,  it  is  not  the 
power  displayed  in  the  procuring  of  salvation,  but  that 
exerted  in  its  application.  In  the  constitution  of  the  per- 
son of  the  Mediator,  and  in  the  progress  unto  completion 
of  his  mediatorial  work  and  passion,  there  are  astonish- 
ing exhibitions  of  his  power,  as  in  his  incarnation  and 
in  his  resurrection.  But  let  us  dismiss  these  for  the  pre- 
sent, and  direct  our  attention  to  the  power  necessary  to 
make  the  work  of  the  Mediator  effectual  in  the  salvation 
of  a  particular  soul — not  that  branch  of  salvation  which 
regards  justification,  and  is  therefore  external,  but  that 
which  regards  purification,  and  is  therefore  internal, 
upon  the  soul.  Christ  is  not  the  agent  in  it.  But  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  the  agent.  Our  subject  is  not  what 
Christ  did  and  suffered  to  render  faith  effectual  to  sal- 
vation, but  what  the  Holy  Ghost  does  in  bringing  the 
sinner  to  believe.  Our  subject  is  the  exceeding  great- 
ness of  his  power  towards  us  who  believe  according  to 
the  working  of  his  mighty  power.  Perhaps  there  are 
few,  if  any,  themes  more  grand,  or  interesting,  or  more 
likely  to  be  useful  to  all  who  will  give  it  close  and  con- 
siderate attention. 

The  power  of  God  exerted  in  the  salvation  of  a  soul,  is 
exerted  ^rsf,  in  its  conversion,  and  subsequently  in  its  sanc- 
tification  and  preparation  for  glory.  The  power  of  God 
does  not  cease  to  be  exerted,  even  in  its  exceeding  great- 
ness, after  the  production  of  faith.  "We  are  kept,"  says 
Peter,  ^' by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salva- 
tion."    That  which  makes  us  Christians,  is  necessary 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D. 

to  preserve  us  as  such.  The  power  which  places  us  in 
the  right  way,  is  needed  to  keep  us  in  it,  and  to  speed 
us  along  it.  What  good  man  does  not  every  day  feel 
the  need  of  an  almighty  influence  on  his  soul — a  God 
working  in  him  both  to  will  and  to  do  1  The  present 
object  is  to  speak  only  of  the  power  of  God  exerted  in 
conversion,  in  producing  faith:  in  illustration  of  which, 
consider, 

The  language  made  use  of  in  expressing  it,  such  as 
"  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power,  the  working  of 
his  mighty  power — thy  people  shall  be  willing  in  the 
day  of  thy  power."  Divine  power  is  necessary  to  make 
men  willing. 

Consider  the  other  displays  of  divine  power  which 
this  is  said  to  resemble.  These  are  creation  and  resur- 
rection. "  For  we  are  his  workmanship,"  as  trnly  as 
the  heavens  and  the  earth  are,  though  in  a  diflferent 
sense, — "created  in  Christ  Jesus."  "  If  any  man  be  in 
Christ  Jesus,  he  is  a  new  creature."  "  And  you  hath 
he  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  tresspasses  and  sins  ;" 
"and  both  raised  us  up  together,"  "according  to  the 
working  of  his  mighty  power,  which  he  wrought  in 
Christ,  when  he  raised  him  from  the  dead."  There  are 
various  opinions  in  regard  to  what  a  Christian  is.  Ac- 
cording to  some,  a  baptized  person  is  a  Christian,  or  one 
educated  in  the  belief  of  certain  principles,  and  who  is 
attentive  to  certain  forms.  According  to  others,  he  is  a 
Christian,  who  is  not  a  Jew,  Mahommedan,  Pagan,  or 
Infidel.  But  according  to  the  divine  Spirit,  a  Christian 
is  not  the  workmanship  of  a  parent,  or  a  priest,  or  of 

himself,  but  of  God.     "  In  Christ  Jesus  neither  circum- 

25* 


SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

cision  nor  uncircumcision  availeth  any  thing,  but  a  new 
creature,"  "They  that  received  him  were  born,  not  of 
blood,  nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God." 

Consider  the  nature  of  the  thing  to  be  done — the 
character  of  the  result  to  be  accomplished.  It  is  not 
merely  to  change  one's  creed,  so  as  that  he  shall  believe 
in  conformity  to  certain  statements.  Nor  is  it  a  mere 
proselyting  of  a  man  from  one  sect  or  party  to  another. 
If  that  were  all,  nothing  would  be  necessary  but  evi- 
dence— such  an  amount  of  evidence  as  should  not  only 
justify  belief,  but  in  opposition  to  the  most  inveterate 
prejudices  compel  it.  For  such  a  flood  of  light  may  be 
shed  around  a  subject,  as  shall  render  the  strongest 
reluctance  of  the  will  powerless  to  prevent  the  belief 
of  it.  But  that  which  is  to  be  done  in  the  conversion 
of  a  soul,  is  not  any  thing  which  light  can  do.  Not  all 
the  light  of  the  vmiverse  can  convert  a  soul.  It  cannot 
warm.  It  cannot  melt.  Another  influence  does  that. 
It  only  illuminates.  Light  discovers  every  thing,  but 
originates  nothing,  alters  nothing.  Light  reveals  ob- 
jects which  ought  to  be  loved,  but  never  generates 
love.  Religion  is  not  light,  but  light  and  love.  And 
the  power  of  religion  is  in  its  love. 

The  thing  to  be  done  in  conversion,  is  the  changing 
of  the  heart,  the  transferring  of  the  affections  from  one 
class  of  objects,  on  which  they  have  been  long  and 
firmly  fixed,  to  another,  towards  which  they  have 
hitherto  felt  utter  aversion.  It  is  to  bring  the  will  of  a 
man  into  subjection  to  divine  authority,  and  to  frame 
all  its  acts  in  conformity  to  the  dictates  of  a  pure  con- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  395 

Bcience,  and  the  decisions  of  divine  revelation.  To 
accomplish  this,  to  cause  a  man  to  love  things  which 
he  now  hates,  and  to  hate  things  which  he  now  loves ; 
to  take  a  deep  interest  in  things,  towards  which  he  now 
feels  a  perfect  indifference  or  a  deeply  seated  hostility, 
to  make  a  proud  man  humble,  an  irascible  man  meek, 
a  profane  man  devout,  all  must  see  to  be  the  work  of 
mighty  power.  To  change  one  habit  of  life,  how  hard 
you  find  it.  What  strength  of  determination  it  requires. 
What  violence  and  perseverance  of  effort,  yea,  what 
strong  self-conflicts.  And  after  all,  perhaps,  it  is  a 
failure  ;  or  the  success  is  but  temporary,  and  there  is  a 
speedy  return  to  the  forsaken  practice.  What  then 
must  it  require  to  change  at  once  all  the  habits  of  the 
heart  1  If  to  act  differently  in  one  respect  be  so  hard, 
what  must  it  be,  to  be  different  in  every  respect.  If 
when  a  man  has  an  inclination  to  be  different  from 
what  he  is,  it  is  so  difficult  sometimes  to  effect  the  de- 
sired alteration,  what  must  be  the  difficulty  when  the 
will  is  opposed  to  the  change,  which  the  conscience 
pronounces  necessary  1  If  when  one  would  do  good,  he 
still  often  does  evil,  what  is  to  be  expected  when  even 
his  inclination  is  not  to  good  1  When  it  is  necessary  to 
the  happiness  and  salvation  of  a  man,  that  he  should 
be  and  do  unlike  what  his  whole  heart  disposes  him  to 
be  and  do,  to  bring  about  such  a  change  must  be  a 
work  to  which  the  greatest  exertion  of  power  is  essen- 
tial. Will  any  thing  short  of  the  exceeding  greatness 
of  God's  power,  ever  bring  the  proud  person  down  to 
the  spiritual  condition  of  the  publican, — to  that  sense  of 
unworthiness  and  that  spirit  of  self-condemnation,  that 


296  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

he  shall  smite  upon  his  troubled  breast  and  be  ashamed 
to  lift  his  weeping  eyes  to  heaven,  and  in  the  confession 
of  his  sins,  cast  himself  on  the  mere  mercy  of  God  1 

The  exceeding  greatness  of  the  power  required  for 
the  conversion  of  the  soul,  may  be  inferred  from  the 
frequent  inefficacy  of  the  means  employed,  and  the  ex- 
ertions made  to  accomplish  this  result.  How  much  has 
been  done  both  by  God  and  man  for  the  salvation  of 
some  souls  that  are  now  irrecoverably  lost  and  gone 
for  ever.  Three  years  did  Judas  Iscariot  live  in  the 
family  of  Jesus  Christ,  daily  hearing  his  divine  instruc- 
tions, and  beholding  his  astonishing  miracles  and  bright 
example.  But  under  the  best  influences  he  waxed 
worse  and  worse,  until  at  length  he  was  prepared  for 
the  blackest  crime  which  stands  charged  to  human 
nature.  Under  what  benign  influences  have  many  of 
the  present  generation  been  brought  up,  and  along, 
hitherto !  Since  the  commencement  of  their  probation- 
ary career,  how  many  means  have  been  used  with 
them,  how  many  expedients  tried,  how  many  prayers 
offered  for  them,  how  many  lessons  of  divine  truth 
taught  them,  how  many  good  examples  set  before 
them,  how  often  they  have  been  exhorted,  and  warned, 
reasoned  with,  appealed  to  and  entreated,  the  provi- 
dence of  God  seconding  and  enforcing  his  word,  and 
even  his  Spirit  striving  with  them,  and  yet,  what  pro- 
gress in  goodness  and  fitness  to  meet  God  have  they 
made  1  How  many  have  made  none  at  all !  How  many 
have  even  taken  a  retrograde  course  !  In  spite  of  all 
the  forces  that  have  been  attracting  them  towards  God, 
they  have  been  regularly  receding  from  him.     Under 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  297 

all  these  means,  their  hearts  have  been  made  harder 
than  ever.  And  yet  the  means  used  have  been  as  well 
adapted  to  the  end  proposed  as  means  could  be.  The 
excellence  and  obligation  of  the  end,  the  fitness  of  the 
means  to  produce  it,  and  the  advantage  of  obtaining  it, 
are  perhaps  all  acknowledged.  The  judgment  is  con- 
vinced; and  that  gained,  all  ought  to  be  gained;  yet 
how  little  is  gained,  w^hen  only  that  is  gained.  Be- 
tween being  convinced  that  a  course  is  right,  obligatory, 
practicable,  and  advantageous,  and  being  persuaded  to 
pursue  that  course,  there  is  a  wide  interval,  which  often 
remains  for  ever  untraversed.  The  man  has  got  the 
truth,  but  he  holds  it  in  unrighteousness.  The  way  of 
his  judgment  is  not  the  way  of  his  heart.  Once  he 
sinned  without  the  light,  now  he  sins  with  it  and 
against  it.  Festus  was  not  convinced.  Agrippa  was 
convinced  but  not  persuaded.  Both,  if  they  died  as 
they  lived,  perished,  with  this  difference  only,  that  they 
perished  under  different  circumstances.  A  man  is  often 
convinced  not  only  that  it  is  his  duty,  but  that  it  i^ 
equally  his  interest  to  pursue  the  course  marked  out  by 
inspiration ;  and  he  will  confess  too,  that  it  is  the  course 
which  gratitude  dictates,  and  the  most  dignified  and 
honorable,  as  well  as  peaceful  and  happy  course,  as 
worthy  of  being  pursued  for  its  progress,  as  for  its  ter- 
mination, its  way  pleasantness,  as  well  as  its  end  glory; 
and  yet  he  will  not  pursue  it,  though  there  are  as  many 
considerations  dissuading  him  from  the  course  he  is 
pursuing,  as  unite  in  persuading  him  to  the  other. 
There  are  some  subjects  on  which  it  is  only  necessary  to 
enlighten  the   minds   and   convince  the  judgments  of 


298  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

men.  But  the  subject  which  comprehends  our  relations 
to  God  is  not  one  of  these  ;  and  hence,  one  of  the  most 
irrefragable  arguments,  not  merely  for  the  fact,  but 
for  the  depth  and  desperateness  of  human  depravity. 
Let  him  who  has  attempted  the  reformation  of  young 
men  who  have  fallen  into  a  course  of  vice  and  dissipa- 
tion bear  testimony  on  this  subject.  He  enters  upon  no 
kind  of  work  with  such  despondency ;  for  reformation 
among  such  is  exceedingly  rare.  And  still  more  rarely 
are  such  converted  to  God.  Let  it  be  heard  and  re- 
membered, that  very  few  immoral  young  men  are  ever 
converted  to  God !  In  proceeding  with  such,  with  what 
facility  they  are  brought  to  acknowledge  the  criminality 
and  fatality  of  the  course  they  have  been  pursuing ; 
and  to  agree  entirely,  with  pious  men,  in  judgment  on 
the  character  and  tendency  of  their  conduct.  Ask 
such,  do  you  not  see  that  if  you  persist  in  the  course 
you  are  now  pursuing,  inevitably  in  a  little  while,  per- 
haps within  a  year,  you  will  be  ruined  in  soul  and  body 
for  ever  1  And  the  prompt  and  apparently  honest  reply, 
will  often  be,  yes.  And  yet  the  person  goes  on  as  reck- 
lessly and  rapidly  as  ever,  and  is  ruined  perhaps  within 
the  year.  So  that  from  experience,  we  are  led  to  be- 
lieve that  when  you  have  gained  all  that  is  rational  and 
intellectual  in  a  man  to  the  side  of  rigid  virtue,  you 
have  done  next  to  nothing  towards  his  reformation. 
You  have  now  to  carry  the  will  and  the  heart,  having 
already  carried  the  judgment.  But  how  are  you  to 
carry  them,  when  it  is  only  through  the  judgment  you 
can  act  upon  them,  and  in  the  case  supposed,  the  dic- 
tates of  the  judgment  are  entirely  disregarded.     How 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  299 

are  you  to  prevail  on  any  one  to  do  a  thing,  when  such 
considerations  as,  that  he  ought  to  do  it,  and  would  be 
benefitted  by  doing  it,  do  not  move  him  in  the  least. 
All  hope  of  a  sinner's  repentance  derived  from  himself 
is  vain ;  not  because  repentance  is  any  thing  miraculous 
or  transcending  tlie  natural  faculties  of  men,  when 
properly  inclined,  but  because  the  most  weighty  mo- 
tives, in  the  greatest  numbers  and  the  most  persuasively 
urged,  are  found  ineffectual.  And  if  we  cannot  prevail 
by  motives,  we  cannot  prevail  at  all.  God  must  come 
in  and  sanctify  the  soul.     That  is  now  the  only  hope. 

In  confirmation  of  the  doctrine  that  conversion  is  the 
great  work,  the  grand  achievement  of  God,  it  may  be 
observed,  that  men,  in  their  undertakings,  find  nothing 
so  difficult  as  that  which  is  analogous  to  the  conversion 
of  a  soul — to  reclaim  a  fellow  being  from  error  or  vice. 
There  is  scarcely  any  thing  physical,  which  men  in 
their  combined  might  cannot  eflfect ;  and  there  is 
scarcely  any  thing  moral  that  they  can  eflfect.  They 
conceive  and  execute  works  of  surprising  magnificence, 
astonishing  one  another  by  the  power  and  skill  which 
they  display,  but  when  they  come  to  niaking  men 
better,  their  want  of  success  is  astonishing.  They  can 
reclaim  every  thing  but  the  human  heart.  They  can 
reclaim  every  waste  but  the  human  soul.  And  now 
mankind  have  pretty  much  abandoned  the  idea  of  re- 
forming the  race,  and  their  chief  labors  are  directed  to 
anticipate  and  prevent  evil.  They  have  found  that  to 
reform  is  almost  hopeless,  and  that  to  preserve  is  pretty 
much  all  they  can  do.  There  was  never  any  thing 
eflfectually  done  to  arrest  the  progress  of  intemperance, 


300  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

until  the  preventive  plan  was  fallen  upon.  Whatever 
tears  parents  have  to  shed,  whatever  prayers  they  have 
to  offer,  whatever  expostulations  they  have  to  address, 
let  them  do  it  when  their  children  are  comparatively 
uncorrupted,  else  it  will  be  too  late.  How  many  young 
men  in  every  city  have  been  ruined  by  dissipation  and 
profligacy,  and  how  few  in  the  same  time  have  been 
reclaimed  from  their  vices  !  And  yet  how  slow  are 
many  to  favor  plans  intended  to  prevent  crime  and 
forestall  vice. 

But  why  is  any  greater  exertion  of  power  necessary 
in  conversion,  than  in  moving  a  mountain  or  making  a 
world  1  Among  the  reasons,  perhaps  this  may  be  one 
and  a  principle  one,  that  in  the  one  case  there  is  oppo- 
sition and  resistance,  in  the  other  none.  In  nature 
there  is  nothing  to  rise  up  against  God — in  man  there  is 
much  that  does  this.  There  is  no  spirit  of  rebellion  in 
any  thing  upon  which  God  exerts  his  power,  but  the 
will  of  moral  agents.  He  commands  nature  and  he  is 
obeyed.  He  commands  men  and  is  disobeyed.  He 
said,  "  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  But 
of  men  he  says,  "I  have  called,  and  ye  refused;  I  have 
stretched  out  my  hand,  and  no  man  regarded — they 
would  none  of  ray  counsel — they  despised  all  my  re- 
proof." Here  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  sinner's  case, 
that  he  can  and  does  resist  God.  Therefore  in  addition 
to  the  power  necessary  to  form  his  soul  aright,  there 
must  be  power  exerted  to  overcome  resistance — a  resist- 
ance which  will  suffer  the  flames  of  eternal  torment 
rather  than  yield.  Where  is  the  man  in  this  Christian 
land,  who  has  not  contended  against  God,  and  resisted 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  301 

the  Holy  Ghost  1  Perhaps  there  cannot  be  found  in 
any  of  our  worshipping  assemblies,  one  unconverted 
man,  but  for  his  positive  resistance  to  the  benevolent 
strivings  of  God's  Spirit,  If  so,  how  will  the  revelation 
of  this  fact  clear  the  divine  character  from  any  injurious 
imputation  cast  upon  it  by  "  all  their  hard  speeches 
which  ungodly  sinners  have  spoken  against  him."  This 
doctrine  teaches  us, 

1.  How  different  a  thing  faith  must  be  from  what 
some  esteem  it  to  be  ;  since  it  is  the  product  of  the  ex- 
ceeding greatness  of  God's  power,  the  result  of  such  an 
energy  as  that  by  which  Christ  was  raised  from  the 
dead.  You  say  you  believe,  but  have  you  ever  expe- 
rienced this  power  of  God  upon  your  soul  1 

2.  How  evidently  does  salvation  depend  on  God. 
Nothing  can  effect  it  but  his  power,  his  mighty  power. 
It  is  possible  only  with  God.  In  vain  you  work, 
unless  he  work  in  you  to  will  and  to  do.  But  remem- 
ber why  and  for  what  such  an  exertion  of  divine  power 
is  necessary.  It  is  necessary  because  of  the  strength 
of  your  reluctance,  invincible  by  any  power  not  omnipo- 
tent.    It  is  necessary  to  make  you  willing. 

3.  If  with  all  the  working  of  this  mighty  power,  the 
righteous  are  scarcely  saved,  where  shall-  the  ungodly 
and  the  sinner  appear  1 

4.  How  devotedly  should  Christians  thank  God  for 
the  exertion  of  this  power  on  them,  and  how  fervently 
implore  that  it  may  be  exerted  for  others.  Why  should 
not  we  cry  unceasingly  in  this  behalf  1 

5.  How  unlike  others  in  spirit  and  conduct  should 

they  be  on  whom  the   exceeding  greatness  of  God's 

26 


302  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

power  has  been  exerted ;  who  have  been  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  their  minds,  who  have  been  created 
anew  in  Christ  Jesus  ! 

6.  How  vain  the  purpose  and  expectation  of  sinners 
to  repent  and  turn  to  God  by  and  by.  You  will  as  soon 
make  a  world,  as  mould  your  souls  anew,  or  change  your 
hearts.  How  are  you  going  to  love  that  in  which  you 
see  no  beauty,  though  the  splendor  of  the  brightest  and 
broadest  day  be  shed  around  it  1  How  are  you  going 
to  change  your  inclinations,  when  it  is  absurd  to  speak 
of  your  having  a  disposition  to  change  them  *?  How 
are  you  going  to  move  your  will,  when  all  the  motives 
which  can  be  assembled  together,  make  no  impression 
on  it,  and  when  a  change  in  your  connexions  effects  no 
change  whatever  in  your  relations  1 

Suppose  you  were  on  your  death  bed,  and  one  should 
say  to  you,  now  make  a  world  and  you  shall  be  saved, 
or  raise  a  dead  man  and  you  shall  be  saved,  would 
you  do  it  to  save  you — would  it  not  be  mocking  you  1 
But  there  is  no  more  hope  if  left  to  yourself,  you 
will  repent  and  believe  when  death  stares  you  in  the 
face,  than  there  is  that  you  will  perform  a  resurrection ; 
for  we  believe  "  according  to  the  working  of  his  mighty 
power,  which  he  wrought  in  Christ  when  he  raised  him 
from  the  dead." 

7.  How  deeply  and  dreadfully  depraved  the  human 
heart  must  be,  that  such  a  power  should  be  necessary 
to  bring  it  to  repentance,  to  faith  in  Christ,  and  to  the 
exercise  of  love  to  God.  What  manner  of  persons  must 
we  be,  that  we  must  be  created  anew  unto  good  works, 
before  we  shall  perform  any  1 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  303 

8.  In  view  of  this  subject,  how  criminal  and  fatal 
appears  the  act  of  grieving  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  It 
is  often  done.  It  is  the  worst  a  man  can  do.  Don't 
you  do  it.  God  forbid  you  should  do  it.  If  you  are 
doing  it,  cease  from  it.  If  you  have  done  it,  and  he  is 
grieved  away  for  ever,  nothing  need  be  said.  All  is 
lost.  But  peradventure  he  may  return.  Then  call 
upon  him  ;  for  as  there  is  no  other  name  whereby  you 
may  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus,  so  there  is  no 
other  influence  but  the  Spirit's,  which  will  ever  bring 
you  to  Jesus. 


FIXED    PURPOSES. 

I  remember  reading  of  a  young  man,  who,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  years,  squandered  a  large  estate.  Re- 
duced to  absolute  want,  he  one  day  wandered  out  with 
the  design  of  putting  an  end  to  his  life.  He  came  to 
the  brow  of  an  eminence  which  overlooked  the  estates 
he  had  lost.  He  sat  himself  down,  dropped  his  head, 
and  remained  for  some  time  in  fixed  deep  thought,  then 
suddenly  sprung  up,  and  with  a  vehement  exulting 
emotion,  while  a  gleam  of  hope  irradiated  his  dark  eye, 
exclaimed,  "They  shall  be  mine  again."  He  had  made 
his  resolution  and  formed  his  plan.  He  now  hastened 
to  execute  it.  The  result  in  due  time  was  complete 
success,  with  an  addition  of  other  property. 


304  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

There  was  another,  who,  after  long  darkness  atid 
distress  of  mind,  at  length  exclaimed,  "  If  there  be  a 
God  in  the  universe,  I  will  seek  him,  and  find  him,  and 
devote  myself  to  him."  That  man,  (as  his  life  proved,) 
is  now  in  heaven. 

Our  salvation  does  not  depend  so  much  on  our  laying 
hold,  as  on  our  holding  on.  It  is  not  he  that  sets  out, 
and  for  a  while  runs  well,  but  he  that  endureth  to  the 
end  that  shall  be  saved.  We  might  as  well  not  lay  hold, 
as  not  hold  fast.  Indeed  it  is  better  not  to  vow,  than  to 
vow  and  not  to  pay. 


LABORS    OF    LOVE. 

There  is  no  labor  so  certainly  effectual  and  so  largely 
productive,  as  that  which  is  expended  in  the  work  of 
the  Lord. 

The  love  of  Christ  should  constrain  you  to  live  unto 
him,  and  not  merely  to  speak  well  of  him. 

The  viciousness  of  the  wretched,  so  far  from  exempt- 
ing us  from  obligation  to  supply  their  urgent  necessities, 
is  an  additional  reason  why  we  should  endeavor  to  do 
them  good,  win  their  confidence,  and  save  their  souls. 

Let  him  that  hath  ingenuity,  plan,  and  him  that  hath 
strength,  labor,  and  him  that  hath  money,  give,  and 
him  that  hath  none  of  these,  as  well  as  him  that  hath 
all  of  them,  bow  the  knee,  and  with  the  faith  of  Abra- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  305 

ham  and  the  fervor  of  Elijah,  pray  that  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  may  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord 
and  of  his  Christ. 

To  believe  our  neighbor  immortal,  and  yet  in  our  love 
to  regard  and  treat  him  only  as  a  mortal — to  know  he 
has  a  soul,  and  yet  to  feel  no  concern  and  take  no  care 
of  his  soul — to  feed  him  wath  the  bread  that  perisheth, 
and  yet  never  offer  his  famishing  spirit  a  morsel  of  the 
bread  of  heaven — to  find  him  fainting  with  thirst,  and 
yet  give  him  none  of  the  waters  of  life — to  help  him 
along  through  this  brief  world,  and  yet  never  seek  to^ 
throw  one  kindly  influence  upon  his  immortal  course, 
cannot  be  to  love  our  neighbor  as   God  intended  we 

should. 

There  is  nothing  more  inconsistant  with  Christianity 
than  indolence. 

Much  of  the  ability  to  do  good,  lies  in  the  disposition 
to  do  it.  The  very  breathing  of  a  benevolent  heart  is  a 
species  of  good-doing. 


WATCHFULNESS. 

The  authority  of  God  commanding,  the  mercies  of 
God  beseeching,  and  the  terrors  of  God  threatening,  the 
love  of  Immanuel,  the  greatness  of  the  work  to  be  done, 
the  soul's  urgent  necessity,  life  the  only  time,  death  at 

hand,  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  man  at  the  unknown 

28* 


306  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

hour,   the  unalterable  decisions  of  the  judgment,  and 
eternity,  all  cry,  watch  ! 

We  are  exhorted  to  hold  fast  our  profession.  Does 
not  this  require  vigilance  ?  Who  ever  held  any  thing 
with  a  firm  grasp  when  he  was  asleep  ] 


CONFESSION. 


How  many  confessions  of  sin  are  a  mere  soliloquy, 
never  in  spirit  and  truth,  addressed  to  God, 

Suppose  a  Jewish  priest  had  seen  the  publican  going 
up  to  the  temple,  and  asked  him  what  he  was  going  for, 
and  when  he  had  answered,  "  to  confess  my  sin  to  God, 
and  ask  for  mercy,"  had  said,  "  you  need  not  go  so  far. 
I'll  hear  you — confess  to  me — I  can  forgive  you ;"  would 
he  have  gone  down  justified  upon  a  compliance  with  so 
impious  a  request*?  Yet  this  is  what  the  Catholic  priests 
do  habitually.  They  stop  the  people  from  going  to 
God  with  their  confessions. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  307 


THE    YOKE    OF    CHRIST. 

The  yoke  is  the  symbol  of  subjection  and  obedience. 
To  take  the  yoke  of  Christ,  is  to  become  voluntarily 
subject  to  him.  It  comprehends  the  subjection  of  the 
understanding  to  his  teachings,  of  the  conscience  to  his 
authority,  of  the  will  to  his  pleasure,  of  the  heart  to  his 
love,  of  the  active  powers  to  his  service,  and  of  the  sub- 
stance to  his  use  and  advantage.  It  is  the  subjection 
of  a  child  to  a  parent,  of  a  servant  to  his  master,  of  a 
client  to  his  patron,  of  a  scholar  to  his  teacher.  This 
subjection  is  not  external  merely,  but  primarily  internal. 
And  it  is  supreme.  Some  kinds  of  subjection  are  in- 
compatible with  it.  All  are  subordinate  to  it.  This 
supreme  subjection  to  Christ,  includes  allegiance  to  him 
as  a  king,  reliance  on  him  as  a  senior,  application  to 
him  as  a  teacher,  confidence  in  him  as  a  guide,  imita- 
tion of  him  as  an  exemption,  and  inviolable  attachment 
to  him  as  the  greatest  and  best  of  friends.  This  is  what 
he  demands,  when  he  says,  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you 
for  it  is  easy." 

The  world  know  not  the  nature  of  the  Christian  life. 
They  see  at  best,  but  one  half  of  it.  The  better  and 
more  blessed  part  is  concealed  from  them.  They  may 
know  our  trials,  but  not  our  supports ;  our  temptations, 
but  not  our  succors;  our  difficulties,  but  not  our  helps; 
our  sorrows,  but  not  our  joys ;  our  trouble,  but  not  our 
tranquility;  our  loss,  but  not  our  unspeakable  gain. 
The  former,  they  are  at  least  in  part  acquainted  with, 


308  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

for  they  have  felt  the  same  ;  but  with  the  latter,  the 
stranger  intermeddleth  not.  They  see  the  yoke  of 
Christ  in  all  its  nakedness,  and  they  think  it  must  be 
hard,  but  they  know  not  what  expedients  Christ  has  to 
make  it  easy.  Oh,  if  they  would  but  try  this  yoke, 
they  should  soon  find  how  sweet  is  submission  to  the 
will  of  Christ, 

Every  man  must  wear  some  yoke.  We  must  be  in 
subjection  to  some  being  or  thing.  The  alternative 
before  us  is  not  independence  or  subjection.  We  have 
only  the  choice  of  masters.  Wisdom  consists  not  in 
rejecting  all,  but  in  choosing  the  best. 

The  Scriptures  exhort  the  saints  to  hold  fast  their 
profession.  Does  not  this  show  the  necessity  for  all  to 
take  it  up  "?  If  God's  soul  hath  no  pleasure  in  them 
that  draw  back,  has  it  pleasure  in  them  that  never  come 
forward  1  If  there  remaineth  to  the  apostate  no  more 
sacrifice  for  sin,  but  a  certain  fearful  looking  for  of 
judgment  and  fierj''  indignation,  which  shall  consume 
him,  what  remaineth  to  them  that  have  never  fallen 
away  from  Christ,  only  because  they  have  never  gone 
to  him  1 


PROFESSION    OF    RELIGION. 

There  must  be  professed  as  well  as  real  subjection  to 
the  Gospel.  It  is  "  with  the  heart  that  man  believeth 
unto  righteousness  •"  it  is  "  with  the  mouth  that  con- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  309 

fession  is  made  unto  salvation."  Some  persons  act 
precisely  as  if  the  latter  part  of  this  declaration  were  an 
interpolation.  But  it  is  not.  To  be  disciples  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  to  declare  ourselves  his  disciples,  the  two 
constitute  our  duty.  Neither  part  may  be  dispensed 
with.  Words  and  actions  are  intended  to  confirm  each 
other.  It  is  true  that  actions  speak  louder  than  words, 
but  the  harmony  of  both  is  an  utterance  louder  still. 
Let  those  who  hesitate  respecting  the  obligation  of  a 
public  profession  of  religion,  read  what  Christ,  in  the 
Gospel,  says  respecting  those  who  "confess"  and 
"deny"  him  "before  men."  Did  he  mean  nothing  by 
such  language?  Nothing"?  But,  say  some,  "if  we 
obey  Christ's  commands,  will  not  our  actions  declare 
unequivocally  what  we  are  *?  If  our  subjection  to  the 
Gospel  be  real,  will  it  not  of  necessity  be  sufficiently 
manifest  1"  But  how  is  a  person  to  obey  all  the  com- 
mands of  Christ,  without  a  distinct  and  open  confession 
of  him,  when  one  class  of  these  commands  requires  such 
confession  1  To  obey  in  part  only,  is  not  having  "  re- 
spect unto  all  his  commandments." 

A  profession  of  Christianity  is  never  complete,  unless 
it  be  made  both  by  works  and  by  words.  Without  the 
former,  it  is  the  merest  pretence — without  the  latter,  it 
is  materially  defective,  perhaps  essentially  so.  I  advise 
no  man  to  try  eternity  without  both  a  real  and  professed 
subjection  to  Jesus  Christ.  When  you  appear  before 
him  as  your  judge,  you  will  not  like  to  have  it  in  remem- 
brance that  you  had  not  been  known  on  earth  as  his 
disciple,  never  nvimbered  among  his  friends ;  that  you 
never,  by  any  voluntary  and  public  act,  connected  your- 


310  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

self  with  his  church ;  never  entered  into  communion 
with  his  disciples  ;  that  you  never  met  with  them  to 
pray  and  to  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  God,  as  Pliny 
says  the  primitive  Christians  did ;  that  you  separated 
the  sacraments,  which  God  hath  joined  together,  and 
were  satisfied  with  a  covenant  sealed  with  only  one 
seal,  and  that  affixed  by  your  parents  in  your  uncon- 
scious infancy. 

It  is  true  that  some  do  not  profess  religion,  because 
they  have  it  not  to  profess.  This  is  melancholy.  But, 
to  have  religion  and  conceal  it — to  attempt  to  get  to 
heaven  by  stealth,  and  defraud  Christ  of  the  public 
honors  of  our  allegiance  and  salvation  here,  is  mean — 
is  perilous. 


REPARATION. 

So  far  are  religious  services  from  rendering  reparation 
unnecessary,  that  they  may  not  be  performed  until  it  is 
made.  The  gift  is  to  be  left  before  the  altar  until  it  is 
made,  and  then  offered.  It  is  a  fatal  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  what  you  do  towards  God  will  make  amends 
for  what  you  have  undone  towards  men. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  311 


UNION. 

It  is  a  silly  conceit  of  some,  that  unity  of  sentiment 
among  men  is  not  on  the  whole  desirable.  How  do 
such  reason  1  Is  not  truth  one  1 — and  is  it  not  desira- 
ble all  should  believe  the  truth  1  Agreement  in  the 
truth  is  that  thing  which  of  all  others  is  most  to  be 
desired.  To  the  want  of  this,  is  to  be  attributed  almost 
all  the  discord,  wrath,  and  wrangling  found  among 
men.  Diversity  of  faith  necessarily  proves  the  existence 
of  error ,  and  error  never  existed  anywhere  without 
doing  mischief.  The  world  had  been  evangelized  long 
ago,  but  for  the  difference  of  sentiment.  One  of  our 
sweetest  anticipations  is  that  we  are  going  where  all 
are  of  one  mind  and  of  one  heart. 


GOOD    MORALS. 

He  who  does  not  honestly  intend  and  heartily  try  to 
pay  his  just  pecuniary  dues,  is  as  deep  in  arrears  to  God 
as  to  his  human  creditor.  And  he,  who  overreaches  his 
neighbor  in  trade,  is  guilty  of  an  attempt  to  defraud 
God.  And  the  man  who,  taking  the  advantage  of 
the  superior  strength  which  nature  gives  him,  and  of 
the  authority  that  law  concedes  to  him,  maltreats  in 


312  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

any  manner  her,  whom  he  has  vowed  to  love,  and 
cherish,  and  honor,  does  not  more  injure  his  wife  than 
he  does  insult  his  God.  Generally,  whatsoever  evil  we 
do  to  men,  we  do  to  God.  In  this  view,  dishonesty  is 
sacrilege,  and  all  immorality  is  impiety  too. 


ENTIRE  DEVOTEDNESS  TO   GOD. 

The  disciples  of  Christ  ought  to  be  a  distinct,  pecu- 
liar, holy,  and  superior  people. 

First,  they  ought  to  do  more  than  others,  because 
they  have  received  more  than  others — more  ought  to  be 
done  by  them,  because  more  has  been  done  for  them. 
Higher  privileges,  and  better  benefits,  have  been  con- 
ferred on  them  than  on  others.  God  has  made  a  dis- 
tinction in  their  favor.  He  has  introduced  them  into  a 
nearer  relation  to  himself.  He  has  chosen  them  out  of 
the  world,  and  called  them  to  holiness.  There  is  no 
man  that  may  not,  and  should  not,  gratefully  say — 
"  What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord  for  all  his  benefits 
toward  me  ?'  Nevertheless,  none  can  say  it  with  that 
emphasis  with  which  they  can,  for  whom  God  has 
crowned  all  his  other  benefits  with  renewing  grace  and 
pardoning  mercy.  Twice  has  the  hand  of  God  been  at 
w^ork  on  them ;  once  in  creating  them,  and  again  in 
new-creating  them.  Are  they,  as  creatures,  the  work- 
manship of  God,  or  are  they  as  Christians]   "  For,"  says 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  313 

the  Apostle,  "we  are  his  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus  unto  good  works."  And  the  second  crea- 
tion is  more  glorious  than  the  first,  and  a  greater  favor 
to  its  subject.  And  not  only  have  their  natures  been 
renovated,  but  their  sins,  in  all  their  multitude  and 
magnitude,  have  been  freely  forgiven.  Justified  they 
are,  as  well  as  undergoing  the  process  of  sanctification. 
And  then  they  are  permanently  the  subjects  of  divine 
nfluence.  They  are  inhabited,  taught,  led,  and  aided 
continually  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  Now,  it  is  a  principle 
of  both  heaven  and  earth,  that  creatures  shall  render 
according  to  that  which  they  receive,  and  that,  conse- 
quently, much  shall  be  required  of  them  to  whom  much 
is  given.  And  it  is  due  on  two  accounts — due  on  the 
score  of  gratitude,  and  due  on  the  ground  of  the  greater 
ability  to  make  returns.  On  this  principle,  then,  what 
is  due  from  those  who  are  distinguished  from  others  in 
the  particulars  that  have  been  mentioned  1  Must  they 
not  render  more  than,  others  do  1  Will  not  more  be 
required  of  them  1  Their  obligations  may  not  originally 
have  been  greater  than  those  of  others,  but,  on  the  score 
of  gratitude,  they  are.  And  greater  far  are  their  derived 
abilities  and  opportunities. 

Secondly — Christians  ought  to  do  more  than  others, 
because  they  profess  and  promise  more  than  others.  I 
say,  not  that  they  profess  and  promise  more  than  others 
ought  to  profess  and  promise,  but  more  than  they  ac- 
tually do.  Now,  when  a  man  publicly  acknowledges 
his  obligations,  whether  by  word  or  act,  and  promises, 
with  the  help  of  God,  to  perform  them,  his  case  is  seen 
to  be  somewhat  different  from  his  who  makes  no  such 

27 


314  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

acknowledgment  and  promises.  "  It  is  better  not  to 
vow,  than  to  vow  and  not  to  pay."  Every  head  of  a 
family  in  Israel  ought  to  have  said  with  Joshua,  "  as 
for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord,"  Some 
did  express  the  determination,  and  some  did  not.  Now, 
supposing  they  had  all  been  equally  delinquent,  the 
former  would  have  violated  an  additional  obligation, 
inasmuch  as  they  had  bound  themselves,  by  promise, 
to  that  to  which  God  had  bound  them  by  command. 
More  is  reasonably  expected,  both  by  God  and  men,  of 
those  who  profess  to  be  the  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  promise  to  be  obedient  to  him,  than  from  those  who 
do  not,  though  the  former  profess  and  promise  only 
what  is  their  duty.  They  ought  to  do  more  than  others. 
They  have  declared  themselves  on  God's  side — they 
have  recognized  their  obligations  to  serve  him — they 
have  consented  to  the  claims  of  Christ,  and  have  taken 
the  sacramental  oath  to  be  obedient  to  him. 

Thirdly — They  ought  to  do  more  than  others,  because, 
for  the  reason  just  given,  what  is  done  by  them  is  of 
more  consequence  than  what  is  done  by  others.  Their 
good  is  more  extensively  beneficial,  and  their  evil  more 
widely  injurious.  Very  few  things  enlarge  a  man's 
influence,  and  increase  his  power  of  doing  good  and  evil 
more,  than  the  fact  of  his  making  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion. Therefore,  consider  well  ere  you  make  a  profes- 
sion of  religion,  and  consider  well,  too,  before  you 
decline  making  it.  Consider  well  before  you  increase 
your  power  of  doing  mischief,  and  consider  equally  well, 
before  you  refuse  to  increase  your  power  of  doing  good. 
It  follows : — 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  315 

Fourthly — Christians  ought  to  do  more  than  others, 
because  their  conduct  is  more  narrowly  watched,  and 
more  strictly  scrutinized,  than  is  that  of  others.  Other 
men  may  do  amiss,  and  little  notice  shall  be  taken  of 
it,  and  for  this  reason,  as  well  as  others,  their  sin  may 
do  little  injury  ;  but  every  thing  professors  of  religion 
do  is  observed  and  criticised.  "You  are  a  city  set  on  a 
hill,  which  cannot  be  hid." 

Fifthly — Christians  ought  to  Uo  more  than  others  be- 
cause they  expect  more.  You  look  for  a  city,  which  hath 
foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  You 
hope,  that  when  this  earthly  house  is  dissolved,  you 
shall  have  a  building  of  God ;  a  house  not  made  with 
hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  You  expect  that  when 
Christ  shall  appear,  you  also  shall  appear  wuth  him  in 
glory.  Now,  there  is  a  conduct  conformable  to  such 
expectation.  "  Every  man  that  hath  this  hope  in  him 
purifieth  himself." 

Sixthly — Christians  ought  to  be  distinguished  here  as 
they  are  to  be  distinguished  hereafter  and  forever.  The 
sheep  ought  not  to  look  as  much  as  possible  like  goats. 
It  is  not  seemly  that  the  heir  apparent  to  the  crown  and 
kingdom  should  act  like  the  sons  of  the  mean  and  vile. 

Finally — If  Christians  shall  not  do  more  than  others, 
then  some  of  the  things  most  important  to  be  done  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  for  the  good  of  mankind,  will  be  left 
undone.  Who  is  to  care  for  the  cause  of  Christ,  and  for 
the  souls  of  men,  if  you  do  not?  Who  is  to  enlighten 
this  dark  world,  if  you  be  not  lights  to  iil  Who  can 
be  expected  to  pray,  and  give,  and  labor  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  this  dark  world,  if  you  do  not  1     When 


316  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

iniquity  comes  in  as  a  flood,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
lifteth  up  a  standard  against  it,  if  ye  forsake  it  who  can 
be  expected  to  flock  to  it  1  Where  shall  Jesus  Christ 
look  for  friends  and  advocates  if  not  among  you  who 
have  plighted  your  friendship  at  his  table  1  If  he  be 
wounded  in  the  house  of  his  friends,  can  he  expect  bet- 
ter treatment  from  his  enemies  1  Wherewith  shall  the 
earth  be  preserved,  if  that  which  was  intended  to  be  as 
salt  to  it  have  lost  its  savor  1  How  shall  religion  flour- 
ish in  any  congregation,  if  they  who  profess  to  be  its 
subjects  take  no  interest  in  its  prosperity  1 

Ye  disciples  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  have  commemorated 
his  death  !  Ye  have  taken  a  step  which  ye  cannot 
retrace.  Ye  have  made  a  profession  which  ye  cannot 
recall.  Your  name  is  indelibly  written  in  the  imperish- 
able book  of  God.  Are  you  paying  it  1  Are  you  doing 
the  thing  that  is  acceptable  to  God  1  Are  you  living  to 
him  who  died  for  you?  Are  you  glorifying  God  in 
your  bodies  and  spirits,  which  are  his  1  Have  you  pre- 
sented yourselves  a  living  sacrifice  to  God  1  Is  his  will 
your  rule,  his  love  your  motive,  his  glory  your  end  1  I 
ask  you  these  questions,  because  they  are  such  as  will 
be  asked  you  in  your  examination  at  that  tribunal  from 
which  there  lies  no  appeal.  Oh !  mince  not  the  matter 
of  Christianity.  That  religion  is  worth  nothing  which 
beginneth  in  a  resolution  that  is  never  executed,  and 
endeth  in  a  profession  that  is  never  made  good.  I 
know  not  which  is  more  fearful,  to  see  men  totally  ne- 
glect the  work  of  eternity,  or  to  see  them  take  it  up  and 
leave  it  half  done.  I  know  not  which  is  more  danger- 
ous, to  be  a  careless  sinner,  or  a  cold  professor,     I  know 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  317 

that  either  will  prove  fatal.  The  church  and  the  com- 
munion table  are  no  refuge.  There  is  none  but  the 
blood  of  Jesus. 

Christians  have  been,  in  common  with  all  men,  the 
subjects  of  one  creation  of  God,  and  in  distinction  from 
others,  the  subjects  of  another^  the  second,  the  greater 
creation.  Has  God  then  a  second  time,  put  his  creating" 
hand  to  you,  ye  Christians'?  Then,  where  are  the  traces 
of  his  handy  work  1 — where  is  that  which  he  has 
wrought  1  What  proof  can  you  show  that  God  has 
been  at  work  upon  you  ]  His  hand  ought  to  be  as  dis- 
cernible in  his  moral  creations,  as  it  is  in  his  physical 
creations.  We  have  not  to  write  upon  the  page  of 
heaven,  "  this  is  God's  work."  Ah,  no,  the  silent 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  firma- 
ment showeth  his  handy  work.  The  work  itself  pro- 
claims the  workman.  And  can  it  be  that  his  moral 
formations  do  not  declare  their  author  1  While  those  are 
"for  ever  singing  as  they  shine,  the  hand  that  made  us  is 
divine,"  are  these  silent  in  regard  to  him  that  originated 
them  1  It  is  as  much  the  result  of  God's  creating 
energy  that  you  are  a  Christian,  as  that  you  are  a  man. 
Now,  shall  it  appear  on  the  very  face  of  the  work,  and 
in  all  its  structure,  so  that  no  one  can  doubt  it,  that  as 
a  man,  you  are  the  production  of  God,  and  not  appear 
that  as  a  Christian  you  are  *?  Is  the  first  creation  so 
manifestly  God's,  while  in  regard  to  the  second,  it  is 
doubtful  whether  it  be  God's  or  man's  1  Who  can 
doubt  that  the  human  eye  is  the  contrivance  and  con- 
struction of  God  1     And  shall  holy  love  not  proclaim  its 

author  1      Shall   the  work   created  not  in  his  image, 

27* 


318  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

prove  him  its  author,  and  the  work  made  in  his  image 
not  proclaim  and  own  him  1 


PRAYER. 


Prayer  moves  the  hand  that  holds  the  heart. 

It  is  not  absolutely  necessary  that  we  should  pray 
over  a  book  of  mathematics,  or  a  volume  of  history  to 
imderstand  it.  Yet  if  the  reader  had  the  opportunity 
of  daily  and  hourly  access  to  the  author,  would  he  not 
frequently  avail  himself  of  it  and  go  to  him  for  expla- 
nation 1  The  Bible  is  the  book  of  God,  and  it  treats  of 
subjects  on  which  our  feelings  are  strongest,  our  preju- 
dices most  violent,  and  our  ignorance  most  profound. 
We  have  daily  and  hourly  opportunity  of  consulting  the 
divine  author.  Are  we  not  manifestly  without  excuse, 
if  not  availing  ourselves  of  this  privilege,  we  fall  into 
mistakes  and  adopt  false  interpretations? 

The  lever  that  is  destined  to  move  the  world  is  the 
Gospel ;  but  prayer  is  the  only  way  in  which  God's 
people  can  apply  any  power  to  that  lever ;  and  we 
believe  that  when  the  universal  Church  shall  make  a 
combined  effort  in  this  way,  the  world  will  be  moved 
and  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  become  the  kingdom  of 
the  Lord.  By  prayer  we  bring  down  the  might  of 
heaven  to  do  what  the  strength  of  the  human  arm 
cannot  do ;  by  this  we  make  omnipotence  our  ally. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  319 

The  prayers  of  God's  people  constitute  one  link  in 
the  chain  of  salvation,  connected  on  one  side  with  the 
power  of  God,  and  on  the  other  with  the  conversion  of 
men.     Break  not  that  golden  chain. 

Oh,  if  men  did  but  pray  for  each  other  as  they  ought, 
what  a  blest  fraternity  the  human  family  would  be.  It 
is  intercession  made  in  heaven,  founded  on  the  atone- 
ment offered  on  earth,  that  preserves  this  revolted  world 
from  merited  destruction,  that  procures  forbearance  for 
the  wicked,  and  sustains  the  principle  of  divine  life  in 
the  soul  of  the  righteous.  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that 
the  intercessory  prayers  of  Christians  avert  more  evil 
and  procure  more  good,  than  all  other  human  means 
together. 

It  is  always  a  great  encouragement  in  prayer,  when 
we  can  plead  with  God  for  our  mercies,  when  we  can 
remind  him  that  the  thing  we  ask  him  to  do  for  us  is 
only  what  he  has  done  before.  With  what  confidence 
may  a  church  which  God  has  often,  or  even  once  re- 
vived, plead  with  him,  "Wilt  thou  not  revive  us 
again  "?" 

The  want  of  success  in  the  prayer  of  the  foolish  vir- 
gins, proves  that  prayer  may  be  rightly  directed  to  the 
Lord — may  be  short — may  be  unostentatious — may  be 
sincere — may  be  fervent — may  be  for  that  which  is 
good  and  necessary — may  be  importunate,  and  yet  fail 
of  its  object.  Not  every  prayer  is  heard,  though  it  have 
many  qualities  of  a  good  prayer.  One  defect,  if  it  relate 
to  that  which  is  essential,  will  spoil  it.  In  the  prayer 
of  those  virgins,  there  was  no  faith  and  no  love,  and  it 
was  ill-timed.     The  time  was,  when,  if  they  had  asked 


320  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

and  knocked,  they  would  have  received  and  gained 
entrance  agreeably  to  the  promise,  but  time  lasts  not 
always.  Behold  the  contrast  between  the  prayer  of 
these  foolish  virgins  and  holy  Stephen.    Acts  vii,  29. 

He  is  a  dead  man,  who  does  not  pray. 

The  Scriptures  plainly  teach  the  duty  of  specification 
in  prayer,  and  especially  in  private  prayer.  Think  not 
that  your  prayers  will  be  of  much,  if  any  avail,  so  long 
as  they  do  not  partake  of  this  property.  He  who  asks  for 
a  great  many  things  at  a  time,  cannot  be  very  desirous 
of  getting  any  one  of  them.  It  is  in  prayer,  as  in  some 
other  things,  the  way  to  accomplish  much,  is  to  do  one 
thing  at  a  time.  Take  a  single  case  and  lay  that  be- 
fore God.  The  woman  of  Canaan  came  to  Christ  on  a 
single  errand,  and  urged  one  only  suit.  When  Peter 
was  in  prison,  and  the  Church  desired  his  release,  they 
prayed,  not  for  all  good  things,  but  "for  him."  He, 
who  in  his  secret  devotions,  prays  only  for  his  friends 
or  his  enemies  in  general,  is  not  sufficiently  interested 
for  any  one  of  them. 

It  is  thought  by  some,  that  Christians  do  not  need  to 
be  prayed  for.  But  they  need  it  as  much  as  any  others, 
and  we  are  more  frequently  reminded  of  the  duty  of 
praying  for  them  than  for  any  other  class  of  persons. 
Our  consistency  as  Christians,  and  our  progress  in  reli- 
gion, depend  very  much  on  our  prayers  for  one  another. 
Perhaps  the  low  state  of  religion  among  professing 
Christians  is  more  owing  to  a  neglect  of  this  duty  than 
any  thing  else. 

When  Paul  prayed  for  the  Ephesians,  it  is  remarka- 
ble that  he  prayed  for  but  one  thing,  and  that  one  in 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  321 

Older  to  others.  Gal.  i,  17.  The  truth  is,  we  do  not 
want  but  one  thing.  Thy  want,  O  man,  is  of  the 
soul,  and  thy  soul  has  but  one  ivant — "  One  thing  is 
needful."  Would  to  God  thy  soul  had  but  one  desire, 
so  as  to  say  with  David — "  One  thing  have  I  desired 
of  the  Lord ;  that  will  I  seek  after." 


SECRET  PRAYER. 

Men  never  take  so  firm  a  hold  on  God  as  in  secret. 
Remember  Jacob. 

Thou  shouldest  pray  alone,  for  thou  hast  sinned  alone  ; 
and  thou  art  to  die  alone,  and  to  he  judged  alone.  Alone 
thou  wilt  have  to  appear  before  the  judgment-seat. 
Why  not  go  alone  to  the  mercy-seat  ?  In  the  great 
transaction  between  thee  and  God,  thou  canst  have  no 
human  helper.  You  can  be  free  before  God.  You  are 
not  going  to  tell  him  any  secret.  You  may  be  sure  he 
will  not  betray  your  confidence.  Whatever  reasons 
there  may  be  for  any  species  of  devotion,  there  are  more 
and  stronger  reasons  for  secret  devotion. 

Nothing  is  more  embarrassing  and  disturbing  in  secret 
prayer  than  unpropitious  circumstances.  Great  atten- 
tion ought  always  to  be  paid  to  this  point — "  Enter  into 
thy  closet,"  says  Christ.  He  says  not  a  closet,  nor  the 
closet,  but  thy  closet.  The  habit  of  secret  communing 
is  supposed  to  be  formed.     The  man   is   supposed  to 


SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

have  a  closet — some  place  to  which  he  is  accustomed 
to  retire  for  prayer — some  spot  consecrated  by  many  a 
meeting  there  with  God — some  place  that  has  often 
been  to  him  a  Bethel.  The  Saviour  uses  the  word  to 
mean  any  place,  where,  with  no  embarrassment  either 
from  the  fear  or  pride  of  observation,  we  can  freely  pour 
out  our  heart  in  prayer  to  God.  No  matter  what  are 
the  dimensions  of  the  place,  what  its  flooring  or  canopy. 
Christ's  closet  was  a  mountain,  Isaac's  a  field,  Peter's  a 
housetop. 

Go  not  into  thy  closet  to  say  prayers.  Oh  !  1  wish 
obsolete  could  be  written  against  that  phrase,  saying 
prayers.     It  were  as  proper  to  speak  of  saying  praises. 

If,  when  in  thy  closet,  thou  feel  nothing,  say — "  Oh 
God,  I  feel  nothing ;  no  gratitude,  no  contrition,  no  de- 
sire."    God  likes  truth. 

It  is  in  the  closet,  and  not  in  the  crowd,  that  men 
become  acquainted  with  God ;  and  what  so  important 
as  acquaintance  with  God  ?  Oh  !  how  it  lightens  the 
pressure  of  calamity,  relieves  the  loneliness  of  death, 
and  breaks  the  shock  of  the  entrance  to  eternity. 

To  become  remiss  in  secret  devotion  is  to  become 
tired  of  God. 

What  an  argument  we  have  for  secret  prayer  in  the 
example  of  Christ,  who  seems  to  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  retiring  to  very  solitary  places,  for  the  purpose  of  per- 
sonal communion  with  God,  and  especially  for  prayer. 
Yes  !  He,  who  knew  no  sin,  who  needed  no  forgiveness, 
and  whose  mind  was  not  liable  to  be  diverted  and  dis- 
tracted, as  ours  is,  maintained  secret  prayer.  Though 
the  habit  of  his  soul  was  devotion,  and  every  breath 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D. 

bore  prayer  upon  it,  and,  wherever  lie  was,  he  held  per- 
fect and  unhiterrupted  communion  with  the  Father,  yet 
He  was  wont  to  seclude  himself  to  praj^  With  all  these 
advantages  over  us,  He  felt  the  necessity  of  it ;  and, 
with  the  business  of  the  world's  redemption  to  attend  to, 
He  found  time  for  it.  This  example  speaks  volumes  to 
us  all.  Was  it  necessary  for  Him  and  not  for  thee,  poor, 
guilty,  exposed  sinner,  that  hast  a  God  to  propitiate,  a 
soul  to  save,  a  heaven  to  obtain  1  Was  it  practicable 
for  Him,  and  canst  thou,  durst  thou,  say  it  is  not  for 
thee  1  Canst  thou  not  find  a  secrecy,  or  make  a  soli- 
tude 1  And  if  the  day  is  not  thy  own,  is  not  the  night  1 
That  was  the  Saviour's  time  of  pra5'^er,  and  the  cold 
mountain  top  was  his  oratory. 

The  Scriptures  do  clearly  teach,  that  secret  prayer 
ought  to  be  not  only  daily — "give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread  ;"  but  often  through  the  day.  Daniel  and  David 
prayed  three  times  a  day  at  least.  "  To  pray  frequent- 
ly is  to  pray  fervently." 


FAMILY   PRAYER. 

Can  any  one  doubt  whether  God  is  more  pleased  with 
the  practice  than  with  the  omission  of  family  prayer  ? 
Does  any  one  doubt  whether  the  practice  or  the  omis- 
sion will  be  the  more  pleasing  subject  of  retrospect  from 
the  dying  bed,  in  the  eternal  world  ?     By  and  by  will 


324  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

come  the  long  deferred  and  greatly  dreaded  season,  of 
taking  the  last  look  and  the  last  leave  of  those  whom 
your  decease  is  to  make  orphans.  Oh  then,  if  this 
sweet  thought  may  enter  into  your  meditation,  that 
you  have  been  in  the  daily  habit  of  commending  them 
to  the  care  and  grace  of  their  heavenly  Father,  and 
that  you  may  now  indulge  the  confident  hope  that  He 
will  infinitely  more  than  supply  the  paternal  place 
which  you  leave  vacant,  you  may  leave  the  world 
rejoicing.  Otherwise,  there  will  be  a  great  darkness 
resting  on  j^our  hopes,  if  not  respecting  yourself,  yet 
certainly  respecting  your  darling  children. 

Do  you  ask  for  an  express  precept  enjoining  family 
worship]  Suppose  it  cannot  be  given.  Yet  listen  to 
the  language  of  prophetic  indignation — "Pour  out  thy 
fury  upon  the  families  that  call  not  upon  thy  name." 
Hear  one  in  high  favor  with  God,  saying,  "  as  for  me 
and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord."  Even.  Pagan- 
ism, in  all  its  sottishness,  has  never  been  so  stupid  as 
to  deny  the  obligation  of  family  religion.  And  the 
blessed  Saviour,  when  on  earth,  left  us  an  example 
that  w^e  should  follow  his  steps ; — he  prayed  with  his 
family. 


PRAYER  MEETINGS. 

The  want  of  concert  in  prayer,  brings  it  to  pass  that 
we  have  no  such  influence  accompanying  the  word 
preached  as  that  which  gave  pungency  and  power  to 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  325 

the  sermon  of  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  For  ten 
days  previous  to  that  memorable  morning,  aye,  and  on 
that  very  morning-  up  to  the  hour  of  the  descent  of  the 
Spirit,  the  whole  company  of  the  disciples  were  all, 
with  one  accord,  in  one  place,  engaged  in  prayer  and 
supplication.  They  were  together,  and  agreed  as 
touching  the  thing  they  should  ask.  I  suppose  every 
one  made  an  exertion  to  be  present,  I  suppose  there 
was  not  one  disciple  unnecessarily  absent  from  those 
meetings ;  nor  from  that  meeting  which  was  called  to 
pray  for  Peter's  release  :  "  Prayer  was  made  of  the 
church  for  him."  Suppose  one  half  or  three  fourths  of 
the  church  had  staid  at  home,  or  gone  to  some  place 
of  worldly  resort  on  that  evening,  (for,  shocking  to 
relate !  there  were  evening  meetings,  even  at  that  early 
period,)  think  you  Peter  would  have  been  released,  in 
answer  to  their  prayers  1  Yet  full  that  proportion  of 
the  members  of  our  churches  absent  themselves  from 
our  meetings  for  prayer.  Yes  !  at  least  one  half  or 
three  fourths  of  our  churches  dissent,  when  the  proposal 
is  to  pray  for  the  revival  of  religion.  There  is  no 
agreement  as  touching  it,  and  hence  it  cannot  be  rea- 
sonably expected.  There  is  not  even  a  plurality  in 
favor  of  it — no !  not  half  the  church  in  favor  of  a  revi- 
val ! — the  vote  is  carried  to  have  none  ! 

I  would  not  make  any  sweeping  assertions,  but  I  do 
not  see  how  any  one,  who  has  grace  even  as  a  grain  of 
mustard-seed,  can  habitually  and  voluntarily  be  absent 
from  the  assemblies  for  social  prayer. 

Some  never  unite  in  any  form  of  social  prayer  but  on 

the  Sabbath.     To  suit  their  hebdomadal  devotions,  that 

28 


326  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

petition  should  have  run,  "  Give  us  this  week  our 
weekly  bread."  But  as  it  now  is,  by  using  it  only  one 
day  in  the  week,  ws  leave  the  supplies  of  the  other  six 
days  unasked  for.  We  acknowledge  our  dependance 
on  God  for  only  a  seventh  part  of  our  time. 

Respectable  people  attended  those  prayer-meetings 
mentioned  in  Acts. 

Besides  their  synagogues,  the  Jews  had  oratories,  or 
places  of  prayer,  proseuchas.  One  is  mentioned  in  Acts 
xvi,  13. 

It  is  strange  that  any  should  object  to  a  prayer-meet- 
ing. How  proper,  as  we  carry  much  of  the  secularity 
of  the  week  into  the  Sabbath,  that  we  should  carry 
something  of  the  spirituality  of  the  Sabbath  into  the 
week ! 


PRAISE 


Paul  was  one  whose  religion  did  not  confine  itself  to 
the  heart.  He  gave  thanks  as  well  as  felt  them.  He 
offered  praise.  You  will  hear  people  say  there  is  never 
a  day,  and  scarcely  an  hour,  that  they  do  not  feel 
grateful  to  God ;  and  yet  they  rarely,  if  ever,  give  any 
devout  expression  to  their  gratitude.  The  duty  of 
solemn  praise  they  seem  to  overlook  altogether.  But 
what  should  a  man  do  with  his  tongue,  if  he  do  not 
therewith  bless  God  ?  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the 
Bible  the  tongue  is  called  the  glory  of  the  man,  Ps. 
cviii,  1,  not  merely  because  it  is  the  organ  and  inter- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  327 

preter  of  that  reason  by  which  we  are  distinguished 
above  the  brutes,  but  mainly,  perhaps,  because  with  it 
we  utter  the  praises  of  the  Most  High,  and  show  forth 
his  mighty  works. 

There  is  no  way  in  which  benevolence  more  beauti- 
fully displays  itself  than  in  thanking  God  for  his  favors 
to  others.  The  world  is  rather,  by  the  bounty  of  God 
to  others,  excited  to  envy  and  discontent.  But,  to  re- 
joice with  them  that  do  rejoice  is  necessary,  in  order  to 
weep  with  them  that  weep.  He  who  has  no  sympathy 
in  our  joys,  has  none  in  our  sorrows. 

It  indicates  a  sad  state  of  things  in  any  church  when 
the  business  of  praising  God  is  attempted  to  be  per- 
formed by  representation,  and  when  one  of  the  objects 
in  coming  to  a  church  is  to  hear  fine  music,  rather 
than  to  celebrate,  in  one  united  anthem,  the  praises  of 
the  Most  High.  Why,  we  might  as  well  go  one  step 
farther,  and  depute  a  few  of  the  congregation  to  feel  all 
the  gratitude  that  is  due  from  us,  as  well  as  to  express 
it.  Nothing  is  here  intended  against  a  choir,  but  only 
against  the  exclusive  commitment  of  this  part  of  wor- 
ship to  a  choir. 


RICHES. 


Riches,  instead  of  satisfying,  seem  only  to  create 
appetite. 

Who  is  so  poor  as  he  who  has  nothing  in  the  other 
world  laid  up,  and  can  carry  nothing  out  of  this  1 


328  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


WINE   IN  THE   LORD'S   SUPPER. 

The  Catholics  have  never  taken  greater  liberties 
with  the  Bible,  nor  any  of  the  boldest  and  wildest 
interpreters  of  that  abused  book,  than  those  misguided 
men  who  have,  of  late,  begun  to  disuse,  and  to  contend 
for  the  disuse,  of  wine  at  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper. 
How  are  the  common  people  ever  to  be  reconciled  to 
such  an  interpretation,  even  if  the  learned  could  be  ] 
Good  people,  when  they  hear  of  this  new  controversy, 
are  beginning  to  wish  that  the  Temperance  Reforma- 
tion had  never  taken  place  ;  and  verily,  if  it  is  to 
deprive  us  of  an  ordinance  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
leave  us  but  half  a  sacrament,  I  heartily  concur  with 
them.     [Among  the  last  things  he  ever  wrote.] 


BACKSLIDING. 

The  truth  is,  the  heart  that  turns  itself  away  from 
God,  divides  itself  among  many  objects.  Forsaking 
the  one  fountain  of  living  waters,  it  is  not  always  em- 
ployed in  constructing  a  single  cistern,  but  is  hewing 
out  to  itself  cisterns  ;  and  when  one  and  another  is 
broken,  it  hews  out  others  that  are  equally  incapable 
of  holding  water.     Or,  to  change  the  mode  of  speech. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  329 

how  common  it  is,  when  a  person  is  convinced  of  the 
vanity  of  one  idol,  instead  of  turning  from  it  to  the 
service  of  God,  he  betakes  himself  to  another  idol 
equally  vain  ;  and  when  that  has  disappointed  his 
trust,  he  resorts  to  a  third,  still  retaining  the  idolatrous 
principle,  though  he  successively  changes  its  objects. 
He  changes  one  idol  for  another  of  a  different  kind,  but 
he  does  not  renounce  them  all  for  God. 


CONFORMITY  TO   THE  WORLD. 

Ye  people  of  the  world  !  when  we  speak  to  those 
who  profess  to  be  "  not  of  the  world,  as  Christ  was  not 
of  the  world,"  and  exhort  them  to  act  in  a  manner 
becoming  their  profession,  we  beg  them  not  to  be  like 
you.  We  tell  them  that  they  must  serve  another  mas- 
ter, and  have  another  standard  of  duty — that  they 
must  not  conform  to  your  habits,  nor  pursue  your 
pleasTires,  and  that  on  the  peril  of  their  souls.  Yes  ! 
we  tell  them  that,  as  they  regard  the  approbation  of 
God  and  the  honor  of  Christ,  their  present  peace  and 
their  everlasting  felicity,  they  must  be  very  unlike  you 
of  the  world.  Ah  !  then,  what  must  you  be,  that  a 
Christian  should  belie  his  profession,  and  blast  his 
hopes  by  being  like  you  ?  What  means  the  exhorta- 
tion to  Ciiristians  "  not  to  be  conformed  to  the  world," 

but  that  you  are  going  the   road   to  ruin ;    and  Jesus 

28* 


330  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Christ,  wishing  to  save  his  disciples  from  going  to  per- 
dition, bids  and  beseeches  them  to  separate  from  you, 
lest,  in  their  communion  with  you,  they  should  inspire 
the  contagion  of  your  principles  and  practices.  This 
is  a  most  serious  matter.  I  beseech  you,  consider  that 
you  belong  to  a  devoted  community. 

What  a  contradiction  is  a  worldly  Christian  !  He  is 
an  earthly-minded  minder  of  heavenly  things. 

When  men,  in  extenuation  of  their  grasping  covet- 
ousness,  which  leads  them  into  posts  and  places  of 
great  trial,  plead  that  they  can  be  as  good  in  one  place 
as  another,  they  forget  that  such  a  remark  is  only  true 
of  those  who  are  not  good  in  any  place. 


MARRIAGE. 


When  a  godly  and  an  ungodly  person  intermarry, 
I  always  know  what  is  to  be  the  consequence.  The 
pious  one  expects  to  convert  the  other  to  God.  But 
ten  to  one  the  conversion  is  to  the  world. 

The  forming  of  improper  matrimonial  alliances  swell- 
ed the  wickedness  of  man  to  such  a  height,  that  it  pro- 
voked God  to  depopulate  our  earth. 

Marriage  connections  are  often  formed  with  the 
deceitful  hope  of  bringing  the  worldly-minded  party 
to  adopt  the  views  and  practices,  and  embrace  the 
hopes,  of  the  other.     But  those  whose  piety  is  not  suf- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  331 

ficient  to  restrain  them  from  making  such  alliances,  are 
by  no  means  likely  to  exert  a  salutary  influence  upon 
their  companions.  They  may  be  induced  to  make  an 
external  profession  of  religion,  out  of  respect  to  those 
who  persuade  them.  Entreaty  may  cause  them  to 
adopt  the  form  of  religion,  but  this  is  not  the  way  to 
make  them  feel  its  power.  Real  success  seldom  at- 
tends such  efforts.  Take  an  example.  Lot  seems  to 
have  married  a  worldly-minded  woman.  That  fact, 
combined  with  his  own  previous  worldliness,  kept  his 
own  piety  low.  Now,  such  piety  as  Lot's  was,  pos- 
sessed in  such  small  measure,  and  corrupted  by  such 
unholy  mixtures,  does  not  often  communicate  itself. 
It  did  not  in  this  case.  The  example  of  such  Chris- 
tians is  by  no  means  impressive,  and  their  prayers,  if 
offered,  are  not  apt  to  be  prevalent.  And  a  profession 
of  religion,  in  our  partner's  or  in  any  others,  ought  to 
be  a  subject  of  mourning  rather  than  of  rejoicing,  when 
it  is  not  the  expression  of  real  piety. 


THE   HOUSE   OF   GOD. 

When  men  attend  public  worship  but  once  on  a 
Sabbath,  and  assign,  as  a  reason,  that  they  were  read- 
ing the  Bible,  I  suspect  they  could  not  have  been 
reading  the  ninety-fifth  Psalm,  nor  the  twenty-fifth 
verse  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews. 


332  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 


POLITICS  AND   RELIGION. 

There  are  scarcely  any  two  things  which  coalesce 
with  so  much  difficulty  as  politics  and  religion.  The 
man  that  assiduously  applies  himself  to  the  one,  gene- 
rally does  it  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  other.  Meddle  as 
little  as  possible  with  politics,  if  you  mean  to  have 
any  thing  to  do  with  religion.  Exercise  your  right  of 
suffrage  in  behalf  of  the  best  men  that  are  presented 
for  office,  and  if  your  fellow-citizens  select  you  to  serve 
them,  serve  them.  This  is  the  Christian's  duty.  But 
let  him  stop  at  this,  and  not  covet  office  or  court  popu- 
larity. "  How  can  they  believe  which  receive  honor 
one  of  another,  and  seek  not  the  honor  that  cometh 
from  God  only."  The  politician  may  sometimes  ask 
with  Pilate — "What  is  truth  ;" — but,  like  that  unhap- 
py victim  of  the  love  of  place  and  of  popularity,  he 
will  rarely  wait  for  an  answer  or  repeat  the  question, 
but  go  out  to  parley  with  the  people  and  hear  what 
they  have  to  say. 


VOWS. 

How  many  seem  to  think  that  there  is  virtue  and 
advantage  in  the  mere  making  of  resolutions  and  pro- 
mises.    Acting  on  this  principle,  they  heap  vows  upon 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.   D.  333 

VOWS,  and  add  promise  to  promise,  and  really  ease  their 
consciences  in  this  way.  They  seem  to  think  that 
they  pay  their  vows  by  repeating  them,  and  perform 
their  promises  by  renewing  them.  The  vows  they 
made  at  one  sacramental  season  they  break  in  the 
interval,  and  then  think  to  repair  the  breach  by  rema- 
king the  vow.  Was  ever  such  a  thing  heard  of?  Was 
ever  a  promissory  note  paid  by  the  renewal  of  it  1  And 
that  which  is  no  payment  when  the  matter  is  between 
man  and  man,  who  will  dare  to  call  payment  when  the 
matter  is  between  man  and  God  1  Nay,  the  Scriptures 
teach,  that  a  mere  renewal,  without  a  performance  of 
promise  to  God,  only  involves  the  soul  in  deeper  guilt : 
"  Better  is  it  that  thou  shouldest  not  vow,  than  that 
thou  shouldest  vow  and  not  pay." 


THE  UNPAID  VOW. 

He  was  sick — he  was  near  unto  death — and  the 
world  was  receding  from  him — and  hope  was  like  a 
dying  taper — and  sore  as  was  the  body's  agony,  it  was 
not  like  that  pang  the  soul  felt  when  the  prospect  of 
parting  was  before  it,  and  the  remembrance  of  the 
sunny  day  and  starry  night,  and  spring  with  all  its 
awakened  beauties,  and  the  charm  of  friendship,  and 
the  exultant  feeling  of  health,  and  the  comfort  of  home, 
and  all  that  enchains  to  life,  all  to  be  left  behind,  came 


334  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

to  his  heart — Oh  !  it  was  a  confused  mingling  of  pain, 
and  regret,  and  dread.  All  was  dark — all  was  wild. 
He  "mourned  sore  like  the  dove — he  chattered  like 
the  swallow."  Then  he  cried  unto  God,  and  petitioned 
Jesus.  And  when  his  strength  failed,  he  moaned  a 
piteous  prayer,  and  "  Oh  !"  he  said,  "  if  I  might  be 
spared,  if  God  would  but  raise  me  up,  I  would  sin 
no  more,  and  I  would  never  forget  the  goodness ;  I 
would  be  faithful,  and  my  whole  life  should  be  a  de- 
monstration of  my  thankfulness."  And  God  heard  and 
raised  him  up,  and  once  more  he  went  forth  to  the 
world.  But,  the  promise  he  made  to  his  Maker,  he 
broke ;  and  in  the  oath  wherewith  he  bound  his  soul, 
he  perjured  himself;  and  Avhen  one  reminded  liim  of 
that  which  should  have  been  burned  upon  his  memory, 
he  smiled.  "My  soul,  come  thou  not  into  his  secret — 
mine  honor,  be  thou  not  joined  to  his  assembly." 


HEARING  AND   HEARERS. 

There  are  those,  who  hear  as  critics  on  manner 
and  style,  who  bring  their  nicely  adjusted  balances 
along  with  them,  to  weigh  words  and  sentences,  and 
that  they  may  determine  on  all  the  little  proprieties  of 
gesture,  and  attitude,  and  emphasis,  and  tone.  They 
came  to  hear  the  man,  and  they  esteem  it  of  small  con- 
sequence what  he  says,  if  he  does  but  say  it  well.     If 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  335 

he  is  logical,  it  matters  not  what  he  proves ;  if  elo- 
quent, they  care  not  what  he  is  eloquent  about.  And, 
if  they  will  take  the  pains  to  examine  themselves,  they 
will  find  that  the  impression  made  on  them,  has  been 
made  almost  entirely  by  the  manner  of  the  preacher. 

Another  class  of  hearers  are  sullenly  complaisant. 
They  never  think  of  rebutting  argument  with  argu- 
ment, or  of  dissenting,  or,  if  they  should,  of  giving  a 
reason  for  their  dissent ;  but,  the  less  they  have  to  say 
against  what  is  advanced,  the  more  desperately  are 
they  set  in  the  rejection  of  it. 

Across  what  a  multitude  of  souls  the  truth  floats  and 
passes  off,  leaving  no  saving  impression  of  itself,  but 
merely  disturbing  the  "mire  and  dirt  of  the  troubled 
soul,"  and  causing  it,  perhaps,  to  be  deposited  more 
fairly  on  the  surface. 


TEMPORAL    AND    SPIRITUAL    BLESS- 
INGS. 

Temporal  blessings  carry  with  them  no  promise  of 
spiritual  blessings.  Spiritual  blessing,  however,  does 
carry  with  it  the  promise  of  so  much  of  temporal  bless- 
ing, as  God  shall  see  to  be  either  necessary,  or  for  the 
good  of  the  subject.  There  is  no  divine  promise  that  if 
you  seek  first  the  things  of  this  world,  the  things  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  shall  be  added  unto  you  ;  but  there  is 


336  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

a  promise,  that  if  you  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  His  righteousness,  the  other  class  of  things  shall  be 
added  unto  you.  Industry,  with  skill  and  economy,  has 
the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  but  not  also  of  the 
life  that  is  to  come.  It  is  only  godliness  that  has  the 
promise  of  both — and  hence  it  is  great  gain.  So  the 
God  of  truth  affirms,  but  there  is  scarcely  one  in  a  hun- 
dred that  believes  it.  I  would  observe  on  the  points  of 
diffiirence  between  the  two  classes  of  benefits,  that  a 
profusion  of  those  which  are  providential  is  not,  under 
all  circumstances,  desirable  ;  and  this  explains  why 
worldly  prosperity  does  not  uniformly  accompany  piety 
towards  God.  It  is  withheld  in  love,  and  therefore  let 
no  one  conclude  from  its  being  withheld,  that  God  is 
not  favorable  to  him.  I  scarcely  need  remark,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  spiritual  blessings  in  the  greatest 
abundance  are,  under  all  circumstances,  desirable. 


YOUTH. 


Youth  is  the  period  of  greatest  interest,  because  it  is 
the  period  of  decision.  It  is  the  decisive  season.  What 
life  is  to  immortality,  youth  is  to  life.  Life  decides  for 
immortality,  and  youth  decides  for  life,  not  invariably, 
but  so  very  generally,  as  that  the  exceptions  prove  the 
rule. 

In  the  whole  term  of  human  life,  there  is  but  one 
flood  tide.     It  commences  its  flow  early.     It  reaches  its 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  t).  337 

height  in  youth.  Happy  they  by  whom  it  is  taken, 
and  the  bark  of  the  soul  borne  by  it  to  a  haven  of  safety. 
But  if  not  taken,  all  after  that  is  ebb. 

That  must  be  the  most  dangerous  period  of  life,  which 
is  the  most  fatal.  There  must  be  great  risk,  where  there 
is  so  much  ruin.  If  here  the  wreck  is  suffered,  here  the 
rock  must  lie.  And  is  it  not  here  that  men  strike  and 
split  1     Does  not  all  experience  agree  in  this  1 

Youth  is  peculiarly  the  period  of  conflict.  Life  is  cor- 
rectly said  to  be  a  warfare.  But  the  fiercest  onset  and 
the  severest  conflict  is  in  youth  ;  and  then,  in  most  cases, 
the  victory  is  won  or  lost  forever.  Then,  if  ever,  the 
spirit  lords  it  over  the  flesh,  and  reason  is  triumphant 
over  the  passions.  Afterwards  there  may  seem  to  be 
a  victory  of  conscience  and  virtue,  but  the  phenomenon 
arises  rather  from  the  exhaustion  of  passion.  The  fire 
was  ,not  extinguished.  It  burned  out.  Yes,  it  is  in 
youth  that  we  overcome  the  wicked  one,  or  are  over- 
come by  him.  John  speaks  of  some  young  men  who 
had  gotten  the  victory  :  he  says,  "  I  write  unto  you, 
young  men,  because  ye  have  overcome  the  wicked 
one."  1  wish  all  young  men  could  be  addressed  as 
having  done  this.  Come,  engage  in  this  warfare — 
come,  contend  for  this  victory.  If  you  carry  this  post, 
the  whole  field  shall  be  yours — if  you  gain  this  hour, 
the  entire  day  shall  be  yours.  And  by  and  by  you 
shall  present  that  morally  sublime  spectacle  to  the  eye 
of  earth  and  heaven,  which  that  illustrious  soldier,  Paul, 
once  presented,  a  man  standing  on  the  line  betwixt 
time  and  eternity,  looking  back  on  his  conflict  and  for- 
ward to  his  crown,  and  saying,  "  I  have  fought  a  good 

29 


338  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

fight — I  have  finished  my  course — I  have  kept  the  faith 
— henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righte- 
ousness, which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  will  give 
me  at  that  day." 

Alas  !  how  many  young  men  have  to  adopt  a  differ- 
ent language,  and,  when  it  is  too  late  to  recover  their 
lost  advantages,  to  say,  as  a  dying  youth  once  said, 
"  The  battle  is  fought,  and  the  victory  is  lost  forever." 


THE  AGED. 


What  a  mournful  sight  is  the  aged  sinner.  He  is 
condemned.  For  sixty  or  seventy  years  has  his  Sove- 
reign protracted  the  period  of  his  reprieve,  and  what 
has  he  been  doing  all  that  time  1  Has  he  been  honestly 
and  earnestly  trying  to  have  his  reprieve  made  a  par- 
don, and  to  get  the  sentence  of  condemnation  removed? 
No  !  He  has  not  put  forth  one  hearty  effort  for  that — 
he  has  scarcely  spent  a  solemn  thought  upon  it.  What, 
then,  has  he  been  doing  ?  Hear,  Oh  heavens,  and  be 
astonished,  Oh  earth  !  he  has  been  exerting  himself 
to  increase  his  prison  accommodations — he  has  been 
engaged  in  acquiring  property,  in  taking  pleasure,  and 
in  seeking  distinction  among  his  fellow-convicts. 

The  aged  may  look  back  to  the  sins  and  follies  of 
youth,  and  say,  smilingly,  that  then  they  were  "  sow- 
ing their  wild  oats."     But  it  is  no  laughing  matter. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  339 

Many  have  already  reaped  ruin  from  that  sowing,  and 
many  will  be  to  all  eternity  gathering  a  rueful  harvest 
from  it.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  ruin  of  very  many 
has  been  owing  to  the  currency  of  the  sentiment,  that 
young  people  must  be  permitted  to  sow  their  wild  oats. 
Parents  have  thoughtlessly  admitted  the  correctness  of 
the  sentiment,  and  have,  consequently,  indulged  their 
children  in  follies  and  sins,  from  the  power  of  which 
they  were  never  after  able  to  rescue  them. 


THE  FUTURE. 

"Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow" — is  a  precept  dis- 
regarded by  him  who  prepares  only  to  live,  and  not  to 
die,  on  to-morrow.  To  take  it  for  granted  that  you 
will  die  to-morrow,  and  to  act  as  if  it  were  certain,  is 
equally  presumptuous  as  to  assume  that  you  will  live 
to-morrow  and  to  act  accordingly.  You  may  live 
through  to-morrow.  Then  be  prepared  for  it — prose- 
cute your  plans — pursue  your  business — be  industrious 
and  enterprising.  But  be  not  unmindful  that  there  is 
another  branch  of  the  alternative.  You  may  not  live 
through  to-morrow.  Be  prepared  equally  for  that. 
I  would  have  you  equally  prepared  for  to-morrow, 
whether  it  be  a  prolongation  of  time,  or  the  beginning 
of  eternity.  It  may  be  either.  Are  you  prepared  for 
it,  which-ever  it  be?     To-morrow  may  introduce  you 


S49  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

into  the  presence  of  God,  may  close  the  account  of  life, 
may  withdraw  the  offer  of  mercy,  may  cut  short  the 
opportunity  of  salvation.  What  if  it  should  1  Are  you 
ready  for  that  interview  and  that  reckoning]  Have 
you  accepted  the  offer  and  improved  the  opportunity  1 
This  day,  whose  hours  are  so  rapidly  passing  away, 
may  be  to  you  the  last  day  of  grace.  The  invitation 
which  the  Saviour  now  addresses  to  you  may  be  the 
last  he  will  ever  make.  Shall  this  day,  then,  be 
wasted  1  Shall  this  invitation  be  refused  ]  To-night 
the  door  may  shut.  Reader,  would  it  shut  you  in  or 
out,  forever  ? 


HUMAN  LIFE. 


Most  men  are  more  anxious  how  they  may  sail 
adown  this  narrow  and  shallow  inlet  of  life,  than  how 
they  shall  navigate  the  ocean  of  Eternity,  into  which  it 
opens,  and  whither  current  and  tide,  wind  and  air,  are 
combined  to  hasten  them. 

This  life  derives  its  chief  importance,  not  from  its 
length,  nor  from  its  pains  and  pleasures,  nor  from  any 
abstract  magnitude  that  there  is  in  its  incidents  and 
occupations,  but  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  life  of  an 
accountable  being,  and  is  itself  the  seed-time  for  eter- 
nity— the  period  of  an  immortal  soul's  probation,  its 
only  probation.     All  the  rest  is  harvest  time.     AH  be- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  341 

yond  the  grave  is  retribution.  It  is  of  more  conse- 
quence how  we  live  and  act  now,  than  it  can  be  in  any 
portion  of  our  existence  hereafter.  This  life  is  not  for 
ease — "Wo  to  them  that  are  at  ease."  How  unsuit- 
able is  ease  now,  when  your  trial  has  not  yet  come  on, 
when  the  business  of  your  embassy  into  this  world  is 
not  yet  accomplished,  the  orders  of  your  master  not  yet 
fulfilled,  your  stewardship  not  surrendered.  We  shall 
be  accountable  beings  forever,  and  that  wherever  we 
may  be  ;  but  it  is  on  the  manner  of  regarding  that 
accountability  in  this  first  brief  portion  of  our  existence, 
that  the  condition  of  the  whole  is  made  to  depend. 
Within  a  single  hour  of  Adam's  life  he  decided  the  fate 
of  the  world.  By  one  accountable  act  he  ruined  him- 
self and  us.  Compared  with  this,  what  was  all  he  ever 
did  afterwards. 

We  live  all  our  time  at  the  mercy  of  merciless  death. 


LENGTH   OF   LIFE. 

It  would  not  be  for  the  promotion  of  the  salvation  of 
the  race  of  men  to  lengthen  human  life.  The  experi- 
ment has  been  tried,  and  how  completely  did  it  fail. 
Life  has  been  shortened  in  mercy.  God  is  to  be  praised 
that  men  live  no  longer.  If  it  were  found  to  be  a  fact, 
that   many   persons   repent   and   turn   to   God   in  very 

advanced  life,  our  judgment  would  be  different.     But 

29* 


342  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

that  is  notoriously  not  the  fact.  Generally,  the  mind 
is  made  up  on  the  subject  of  religion  early  in  life,  and, 
when  made  up,  there  is  rarely  a  reconsideration  of  the 
question.  This  is  specially  true  of  those  who  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  a  religious  education,  or  the  faithful 
ministrations  of  the  Gospel.  If,  then,  men  grow  worse 
as  they  grow  old — are  farther  removed  from  a  disposi- 
tion to  repentance  as  they  are  carried  forward  in  life, 
why  should  they  live  longer  ■?  If  they  will  not  repent 
at  seventy,  would  they  at  seven  hundred  1  But  why 
does  any  one  complain  that  he  has  not  space  enough 
for  repentance  1  It  is  because  he  wishes  to  employ  the 
time  he  has  in  something  else  than  repentance. 


THIS  LIFE   AND   THE  NEXT. 

If  it  is  worth  while  to  labor  to  be  happy  for  the  first 
seventy  years  of  your  existence,  why  should  you  not 
make  equal  provision  for  the  second  seventy,  and  for 
the  third,  and  for  as  many  as  your  existence  may  be 
divided  into  1  Does  the  fact,  that  the  second  septuage- 
nary  term  of  years  is  to  be  passed  in  another  world, 
make  the  happiness  of  it  less  desirable  and  less  worthy 
of  your  labor,  than  if  the  period  of  your  earthly  exist- 
ence were  extended  to  twice  threescore  and  ten  1  If 
there  is  a  something  that  is  capable  of  diffusing  comfort 
and  happiness  through  that  second  period  of  years,  is  it 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D. 

not  as  deserving  of  human  attention,  and  study,  and 
toil,  as  that  is  which  makes  the  first  seventy  comfort- 
able and  happy  1  How  much  more,  if  the  second  divi- 
sion of  our  existence  is  a  duration  absolutely  without 
end  1  It  is  hard  to  be  accounted  for,  even  in  a  depraved 
creature,  that  he  should  be  so  exceedingly  anxious 
about  himself  until  a  certain  day  and  hour  of  his  exist- 
ence, and  perfectly  regardless  of  his  interests  beyond 
that — that  a  being  who  is  more  certain  that  he  shall 
live  forever,  than  he  is  that  he  shall  survive  another 
year,  should  be  so  eager  to  labor  and  lay  up  for  that 
which  is  both  brief  and  uncertain,  and  at  the  same 
time  so  indifferent  about  providing  for  a  certain  immor- 
tality— so  assiduous  to  lay  up  something  for  the  soul  so 
long  as  it  may  preserve  its  connection  with  the  body, 
and  perfectly  careless  what  becomes  of  it  so  soon  as  it 
leaves  its  miserable  clay,  and  begins  to  exist  in  another 
state,  and  with  its  capacities  of  enjoyment  and  suffering 
far  more  exquisite  than  they  even  were  before. 


TIME  AND  ETERNITY. 

Is  it  not  strange,  tliat  the  only  things  we  do  not  pre- 
pare for  are  those  things  which  will  inevitably  occur  ; 
while  those  things  which,  besides  that  they  are  of  infe- 
rior importance,  only  may  occur,  it  is  our  aim  and 
endeavor  to  be  fully  prepared  for.     We  are  so  engaged, 


344  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

SO  absorbed  in  preparing  for  an  uncertain  life,  that  we 
omit  to  prepare  for  a  certain  death. 

Heaven  sees  no  spectacle  on  earth  so  melancholy,  as 
the  sportiveness  of  souls  on  the  brink  of  an  unblest 
eternity. 

If  men  make  so  much  and  so  rapid  progress  in  evil 
here,  where  there  exist  so  many  restraints  and  hin- 
drances to  evil,  and  so  many  means  of  good,  what  must 
be  the  progress  of  the  impenitent  hereafter  ;  how  swift, 
how  awful  !  In  hell  there  will  be  no  restraint  from 
evil,  and  no  means  of  good ;  no  Sabbath,  no  Bible,  no 
good  Spirit,  no  Saviour.  He  will  be  in  the  midst  of 
such  company,  and  surrounded  by  such  examples,  and 
iminvited  to  any  effort  at  restraint,  much  less  refor- 
mation, by  any  ray  of  hope  that  would  in  the  least 
avail. 

Tell  me  what  is  behind  you,  and  I  will  tell  you  what 
is  before  you. 

If,  in  time,  men  become  so  vile  as  to  be  the  incarna- 
tion of  evil,  what  must  they  not  be  in  eternity. 


ETERNITY. 


How  near,  Oh  !  how  very  near  are  the  eternal  reali- 
ties, judgment,  heaven,  and  hell- — as  near  as  death — 
nearer  than  the  grave.  The  soul  reaches  home  before 
the  body  does. 


tVILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  345 

Even  Ihe  tick  of  a  watch  may  sometimes  shake  and 
trouble  an  immortal  spirit,  when  he  reflects  how  swiftly 
it  is  numbering  off  the  calculable  records  of  life,  telling 
off  the  little  moments  of  this  short  preface  to  his  eter- 
nity ;  and  lie  thinks  how,  in  a  little  while,  when  its 
tale  shall  be  told,  and  himself  shall  be  where  there  is 
no  year,  month,  day,  nor  hour  ;  because  no  sun,  or  moon, 
or  mechanism  to  measure,  but  all  is  one  unmeasured, 
immeasurable  eternity.  Time  is  to  man,  in  some  re- 
spects, a  more  serious  season  than  eternity.  Eternity 
is  absolutely  the  creature  of  time,  derives  all  its  cost 
and  character  from  time ;  is  troubled  or  serene,  inviting 
or  revolting,  happy  or  miserable,  a  blessing  or  a  curse, 
as  time,  omnipotent  time,  ordains  it. 

Seventy  centuries,  even  seventy  millenaries,  will  not 
be  worth  as  much  to  an  inhabitant  of  eternity  as  seventy 
years  are  to  an  inhabitant  of  time. 

How  will  the  mind  brighten  and  expand  while  it 
basks  beneath  the  beams  of  eternity  !  What  an  influx 
of  ideas,  new  and  grand,  will  the  spirit  receive  on  its 
first  liberation  from  the  confinement  of  the  body !  Oh  ! 
who  can  preach  a  sermon  with  eternity  for  his  text ! 


A   NEW  YEAR'S  WISH. 

My  wish  for  ail  my  friends,  on  this  day  of  good 
wishes,  I  would  thus  express  : — "  My  heart's  desire  and 
prayer  to  God  for  you  all  is,  that  you  may  be  saved. 


346  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

The  Lord  direct  your  hearts  into  the  love  of  God,  and 
into  the  patient  waiting  for  Christ ;  and  the  Lord  make 
you  to  increase  and  abound  in  love  one  toward  another, 
and  toward  all  men,  to  the  end  he  may  establish  your 
hearts  unblamable  in  holiness  before  God,  even  our 
Father,  at  the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with 
all  his  saints." 


NEARNESS   OF   DEATH. 

We  sometimes  seem  to  be  nearer  death  than  at 
others,  but  the  whole  progress  of  life  is  in  the  closest 
proximity  to  it.  We  are  not  merely  tending  towards  a 
brink,  over  which  ultimately,  when  we  arrive  at  it,  we 
must  plunge.  Even  then,  our  condition  would  be  fear- 
ful. But,  in  all  our  progress,  we  are  travelling  upon 
that  brink.  Our  way  winds  along  the  perilous  edge  of 
the  precipice.  This  makes  our  condition  more  fearftil 
— this  perpetual  insecurity — this  ever  present  and  immi- 
nent peril.  It  is  not  the  certainty  of  the  fact  in  regard 
to  death,  that  is  so  very  appalling  to  the  soul.  It  is 
the  vmcertainty  of  the  time.  It  is  not  that  ultimately 
we  must  die,  but  that  presently  we  may.  It  is  the 
thought  of  being  always  near  to  that  last  great  evil, 
always  adjacent  to  the  judgment,  always  close  upon 
the  borders  of  eternity,  and  always  within  a  little  of 
our  everlasting  abode — the  journey  from  every  point  of 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  347 

our  path  so  short,  a  single  stage,  a  single  step  !  now 
here  and  anon  there  ;  this  hour  with  men,  the  next  with 
God.  To-day,  only  a  candidate  for  immortality,  to- 
morrow its  incumbent.  To-day  on  trial  for  eternity, 
to-morrow  tried,  and  the  case  decided  irreversibly  and 
forever.  To-day  on  earth,  to-morrow  in  heaven  or  in 
hell — nor  yet  the  interval  so  great  as  a  day.  What  a 
change  awaits  us  in  both  body  and  soul !  How  fearful 
it  would  be,  even  if  it  were  gradually  brought  about,  if 
one  by  one,  the  objects  of  earth  faded  from  our  view, 
and  the  novelties  of  eternity  were  slowly  and  separately 
unfolded  to  our  vision,  and  if,  one  by  one,  the  mysteri- 
ous ligaments  of  life  were  sundered  ;  if  the  summons  of 
death  designated  a  distant  day  for  our  appearance  at 
the  bar  of  God,  and  our  way  to  it  was  long  and  diffi- 
cult. But  how  much  more  fearful,  when  the  change  is 
as  sudden  as  it  is  great,  the  familiar  scenes  of  one  world 
all  vanishing  at  once,  and  the  unimagined  realities  of 
the  other  all  at  once  appearing  ;  the  summons  of  death 
requiring  immediate  attendance  at  the  bar  of  God,  and 
the  way  but  a  step.  And  there  is  no  period  of  life  tliat 
death  respects,  no  sanctuary  into  which  he  dare  not 
enter,  no  citadel  that  he  is  afraid  to  attack.  Nor  will 
he  ever  depart  from  us  more  than  the  space  of  a  step, 
though  he  may  long  maintain  that  distance  from  us. 
How  solemn,  that  to-morrow  thou  mayest  have  to  give 
account  to  God  for  the  deeds  of  to-day  ;  or  to-day,  for 
the  deeds  of  yesterday.  How  many  accounts  are  closed 
every  day  !  how  manj^  cases  decided  at  that  court  of 
final  judicature  1  how  many  characters  become  un- 
changeably fixed  in  righteousness  or  unrighteousness  ! 


348  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

How  many  souls  daily  go  to  their  last,  long  abodes ! 
And,  as  death  and  judgment  are  so  near,  retribution  is 
also  at  hand.  The  trial  of  your  case  will  not  occupy 
much  time,  and  then  immediately  will  ensue  retribu- 
tion. And,  if  retribution  is  so  near  to  all,  how  near  is 
perdition  to  some.  There  is  but  a  step  between  the 
impenitent  and  hell !  And,  for  the  same  reason,  is  the 
Christian  near  heaven!  "Your  redemption  draweth 
nigh." 


DEATH. 


The  prospect  of  death  discloses  things  to  us,  which, 
through  life,  we  see  not,  or  are  inattentive  to.  The 
foolish  virgins,  not  till  the  coming  of  the  bridegroom, 
found  out  that  they  had  no  oil ;  or,  if  they  knew  it, 
they  regarded  it  not. 

The  most  careless  through  life  often  express  great 
concern  when  life  is  closing. 

That  man,  who  has  never  quaked  at  thoughts  of 
death,  is  not  fit  to  die  ;  and  he,  who  has  never  trembled 
at  the  prospect  of  meeting  God,  is  not  prepared  to  meet 
him  ;  and  he,  that  has  never  stood  in  awful  apprehen- 
sion of  the  retribution  that  awaits  the  guilty,  is  full 
likel)'^  to  realize  its  horrors. 

Of  some  men  whom  I  have  known,  and  who  intend- 
ed, by  and  by,  to  come  to  Christ,  and  who  are  now  in 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.  D.  349 

eternity,  this  is  the  history.  One  died  without  being 
sick.  Another  was  sick  here,  in  the  brain.  A  third,  in 
his  sickness,  still  put  it  off.  A  fourth  spoke  of  a  cal- 
lousness that  had  come  over  his  heart,  by  reason  of 
which  he  could  not  feel.  A  fifth  hastily  ran  into  a 
refuge  of  lies.  A  sixth  found  he  had  quenched  and  put 
out  the  last  spark  of  the  Spirit.  He  had  ceased  to 
strive.  He  called  and  cried  in  vain — God  let  him 
alone.  He  found,  too  late,  that  He  was  a  being  not  to 
be  trifled  with.  That  was  fulfilled  in  his  case — "  I  will 
laugh  at  their  calamity,  and  mock  when  their  fear 
cometh." 

How  oft  there  is  not  only  no  twilight  to  the  evening 
of  life,  but  no  evening ;  nor  yet  the  noon  reached,  nor 
even  the  morning  sun  high  in  the  heavens.  And  how 
oft  there  is  no  premonition,  but  death  intrudes  into  the 
midst  of  life,  and  not  gradually  withereth  the  flower, 
but  rudely  and  suddenly  sears  its  stem. 

What  a  change  is  wrought  in  death  !  It  is  a  very 
awful  thing,  even  to  die  in  the  Lord.  Remember  this. 
Christian !  In  the  morning  thou  art  here,  panting, 
laboring,  dying — and  before  it  is  night  on  earth,  thou 
art  in  distant  Paradise,  breathing  its  air  and  partaking 
in  its  delights — from  this  sphere  and  these  revolutions, 
removed  in  a  twinkling,  where  there  is  no  need  of  sun 
or  moon,  but  the  living  light  of  the  divine  glory  illu- 
mines all.  Now  thou  art  with  thy  earthly  friends  and 
acquaintance,  and  anon  with  Christ,  and  one  in  the 
General  Assembly  and  Church  of  the  First-born — this 
hour  taking  drinks  and  medicines  from  a  nurse's  hand, 

and  a  few  hours  afterwards  it  is  given  thee  to  drink  of 

30 


350  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

living  waters,  and  to  eat  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life 
in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God.  The  poor  male- 
factor, who  came  out  of  his  prisoii  to  be  crucified  with 
Christ,  as  forlorn  and  hopeless  a  creature  as  lived,  be- 
fore the  evening  lights  were  kindled  in  Jerusalem,  was 
3,  sanctified  and  saved  spirit,  in  the  happy  society  of 
saints  and  angels.  Whai.  a  change  for  this  poor  fel- 
Jow  !  And,  to  every  one  that  trusts  in  Jesus,  it  shall 
be  in  like  manner. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
Spirits  around  his  throne,  have  no  sympathy  with  us 
in  our  lamentations  over  the  pious  dead.  They  rejoice 
fit  meeting  one  who  has  accomplished  his  warfare,  and 
overcome  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 


ANOTHER  VICTORY   OVER  DEATH. 

The  great  battle  with  this  enemy  was  fought  on  the 
field  of  Calvary.  Then  the  Prince  of  life  met  him,  and, 
turning  his  own  weapons  against  him,  vanquished  him. 
True,  the  victor,  died  ;  for  it  was  only  by  death,  that 
death  could  be  overcome  ;  and  the  victory  was  none  the 
less  complete  and  glorious  on  that  account.  Every 
victory  over  death,  since  that,  has  been  but  the  fruit  of 
that  first  great  victory.  It  is  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who,  having  himself  gained,  now  giveth  us  the  victory. 
We  are  conquerors,  and  more  than  conquerors,  through 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  351 

him  that  hath  loved  us.  He  putteth  the  palm  in  our 
hands.  A  multitude,  which  no  man  can  number,  have, 
through  him,  triumphed  over  death. 

I  was  witness  to  one  of  these  victories  the  other  day. 
There  was  no  conflict  in  the  case — death  made  no  shew 
of  resistance.  He  just  gave  up  at  once.  He  did  r\plr 
even  look  formidably.  The  victor,  in  this  instance, 
remembered  Calvary  ;  and  death,  also,  seemed  to  re- 
member it.  He  has  never  recovered  his  spirit  since 
that  conflict,  so  fatal  to  him.  He  never  will.  Death 
is  abolished  to  him  that  believeth  in  Jesus.  "  He  that 
believeth  shall  never  die."  That  which  remains  is  not 
worthy  of  the  name  of  death.  Death  is  dark  ;  but  the 
scene  I  witnessed  was  bright,  above  the  splendors  of 
the  mid-day  sun.  I  asked  the  victor  (I  will  not  say 
victim)  if  it  was  bright  to  him.  He  said,  in  effect — 
"bright  as  light  could  make  it."  Death  is  frightful. 
But  here  was  no  fear.  I  asked  the  dying  conqueror  if 
he  had  any  fear — "  None  at  all,"  he  said.  His  counte- 
nance had  told  me  that  before.  He  was  young — he 
had  much  to  live  for,  and  a  few  weeks  before  he  had 
fondly  loved  life.  But  the  love  of  life  went  with  the 
fear  of  death.  By  nature  he  loved  life,  by  grace  he 
loved  life  eternal.  It  was  the  love  of  life,  even  of 
immortality,  that  made  him  willing  to  die.  He  loved 
LIFE  too  w.ell  to  live. 

Death  is  sorrowful.  But  there  was  no  sorrow  here^ 
except  in  those  who  stood  around.  "  This  is  the  hap- 
piest moment  I  ever  experienced,"  he  said  to  me  ;  and, 
certainly,  his  looks  never  before  expressed  such  happi- 
ness.    He  realized  the  wish  of  the  Persian  poet ;  and  he 


352  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

smiled  while  all  around  him  wept.  In  short,  death,  iu 
this  case,  not  only  suffered  a  defeat,  but  was  swallowed 
up  in  victory,  so  that  I  saw  nothing  of  it.  And  how 
came  it  to  pass  1  I  have  already  intimated.  Was  this 
a  victory  of  nature  1  No.  Was  it  a  triumph  of  Phi- 
losophy 1  No.  It  was  an  achievement  of  grace.  Na- 
ture tamely  succumbs  to  death.  Philosophy  submits 
with  calmness  to  the  inevitable  decree.  It  is  only 
Christianity  which  overcomes.  I  asked  the  young 
man  if  Christ  was  now  precious — "  Oh  yes  ! — He  is 
everything — my  all  !" — was  his  reply.  I  said,  "  Is 
He  not  enough  1"  "  All-sufficient,"  he  replied,  "  I 
need  nothing  more."  At  a  moment  of  more  than  com- 
mon rapture,  he  called  for  the  singing  of  his  favorite 
hymn.     During  the  singing,  his  aspect  was  unearthly. 


RESURRECTION. 

Many  think  to  avoid  difficulties  urged  by  cavillers 
against  the  doctrine  of  a  resurrection,  by  denying  the 
identity  of  the  risen  body  with  that  which  died,  and  by 
introducing  the  figment  of  a  merely  spiritual,  or  airy 
vehicle,  or  etherial  covenant ;  and,  if  they  do  not  ex- 
clude every  thing  material  from  the  raised  body,  yet 
they  think  it  indifferent  whether  it  be  constructed  from 
the  ruins  of  the  old  body  or  not,  and  so  they  make  the 
resurrection  to  be  a  new  creation.     Thus  they  remove 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  353 

every  objection  by  sacrificing  the  doctrine.  Against 
the  resurrection  which  they  teach,  there  is  plainly  no 
room  for  cavilling.  Against  that  which  Paul  taught, 
by  his  own  confession,  there  was.  There  is  nothing 
more  evident  from  the  Scriptures,  than  that  the  resur- 
rection is  represented  to  be  a  change,  and  not  a  crea- 
tion. "  These  vile  bodies  shall  be  changed,  and  made 
like  to  Christ's  glorious  body."  The  very  same  "  which 
is  sown  in  dishonor,"  is  to  be  "  raised  in  glory."  The 
very  same  "  that  was  sown  in  weakness,  is  to  be  raised 
in  power."  This  very  "  corruptible  is  to  put  on  incor- 
ruption,"  and  this  identical  "mortal  is  to  wear  immor- 
tality." If  the  raised  body  shall  not  be,  in  a  measure, 
the  same  with  that  which  we  now  possess,  why  is  it 
called  a  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  not  the  creation 
of  a  body  1  Why  are  the  graves  to  open,  if  nothing  is 
to  come  out  of  them  1  Why  are  the  earth  and  the  sea 
spoken  of  as  delivering  up  their  dead,  if  this  theory  be 
true  1  Such  modes  of  expression  as  those  just  referred 
to,  must  be  admitted  to  lack  identity  at  the  two  grand 
points  of  death  and  the  resurrection.  If  any  curiously 
ask  the  puzzling  question — "Wherein  consists  this  iden- 
tity," I  reply,  "  If  you  please,  we  will  let  this  remain  a 
puzzle  until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection.  But  if 
not,  will  you  tell  us  wherein  consists  the  identity  of  the 
body  you  now  possess,  and  that  you  had  twenty  or 
thirty  years  ago  1  And  if  you  cannot  tell,  why,  then, 
do  you  call  it  the  same  1"  Yet  all  men  do  thus  think 
and  speak.  As  to  the  difficulty  of  finding,  and  recog- 
nizing, and  reanimating  the  particles,  it  is  enough  to 

ask — "  Is  any  thing  too  hard  for  God."     "Why  should 

30* 


354  SELECT   REMAINS    OF 

it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you  that  God 
should  raise  the  dead  1" 

To  me,  the  resurrection  of  the  body  is  not  half  so 
mysterious,  as  the  everlasting  disunion  of  the  soul  and 
body  would  be. 


THE  LAST  JUDGMENT. 

We  have  seen  Jesus  at  the  bar  of  Pilate.  We  shall 
see  Pilate  at  the  bar  of  Jesus. 

Every  man  has  a  case  pending  in  the  court  of  eternal 
judgment,  in  which  property  is  concerned,  even  his 
right  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  his  title  to  the  inheritance 
that  fadeth  not  away ;  and  liberty  is  involved,  the  free- 
dom of  the  soul  from  the  most  cruel  tyranny  that  ever 
oppressed  and  degraded  man ;  and  life  is  at  stake,  not 
this  life  only,  which,  if  it  be  not  violently  cut  off,  soon 
terminates  of  itself,  but  a  life  to  which  this  is  not  as  the 
minutest  dew-drop  to  the  shoreless  and  unfathomable 
ocean.  If  this  case  be  decided  against  you,  you  forfeit 
that  right  and  title  to  heaven,  you  lose  the  freedom  of 
the  soul,  and  you  entail  upon  your  immortality  a  curse, 
which  causes  it  to  have  all  the  evils  of  death,  and  to  be 
called  death,  while  it  has  none  of  its  immunities.  And 
the  day  of  trial  is  approaching.  You  have  already  been 
summoned  to  be  in  readiness,  for  you  know  not  the 
hour  when  you  will  be  called  to  trial.     Are  you  pre- 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  355 

pared  for  trial  ?     Have   you  secured  the  advocacy  of 
him  who  alone  can  successfully  manage  your  cause  1 

How  intensely  interesting  and  awful  a  day  will  that 
of  the  judgment  be  !  It  would  seem  as  if  Christ  was 
always  thinking  of  it.  How  frequently  he  speaks  of  it, 
and  never  but  with  the  deepest  solemnity. 

It  is  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ  before  which  we 
are  to  appear.  "The  Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  has 
committed  all  judgment  to  the  Son."  Christian,  what 
a  subject  thou  hast  here  for  thy  heart's  most  fond  medi- 
tation— thy  Saviour  thine  arbiter — thy  advocate  and 
thy  judge  the  same.  What  client  would  not  be  willing 
that  his  own  counsel  should  decide  his  case  !  Dost 
thou  tremble  at  the  thought  of  going  to  judgment  ] 
Why,  it  is  but  to  go  to  Christ — to  Him  who  has  already 
taken  thy  burden  and  given  thee  rest.  Once  He  has 
already  accepted  thee.  Will  He  change  his  mind  and 
reject  thee  1  Will  he  not  honor  his  own  righteousness, 
which  he  has  put  on  thee  1  Shall  not  his  pleadings  for 
thee  prevail,  when  he  pleads,  as  it  were,  with  himself 
— and  his  intercessions  on  thy  behalf  are  made  to  his 
own  heart,  that  sorrowed  for  thee,  and  to  his  own 
bosom,  that  bled  for  thee  1  "  Who  is  he  that  condemn- 
eth  1  Is  it  Christ  that  died,  yea,  rather  that  is  risen 
again,  who  is  even  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also 
maketh  intercession  for  us  ?"  Impossible  !  And  yet, 
if  He  does  not  condemn,  who  can,  since  He  is  the 
judge  1  This  arrangement,  by  which  the  sinner's  Sa- 
viour is  his  judge,  constitutes  one  among  the  many 
surpassing  beauties  of  Christianity.  I  wonder  that  the 
mere  man  of  taste  is  not  struck  with  it.     Child  of  God, 


356  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

follower  of  the  Lamb,  press  the  thought  to  thy  heart, 
cherish  it  among  thy  richest  recollections.  So  shall 
thou  have  "boldness  in  the  day  of  judgment," 

How  much  more  our  actions  mean,  than  we  suppose 
they  do.  The  wicked,  until  the  judgment  day,  will 
not  know,  that  in  refusing  acts  of  kindness  to  the  pious 
poor,  they  were  refusing  to  feed  and  clothe  Christ. 
They  thought  it  was  but  some  poor,  weak  people,  called 
Christians,  who  made  much  ado  about  religion,  that 
they  had  thus  neglected.  They  did  not  mean  any 
direct  affront  to  Christ,  but  so  he  takes  it.  "  1  am 
Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest,"  said  the  voice  from 
heaven  to  the  astonished  Saul  of  Tarsus. 

The  doctrine  of  an  adjusting  judgment,  if  it  have  any 
place  in  the  system  of  natural  religion,  is  inferred  from 
the  Divine  justice,  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  adduced  in 
proof  of  it.     That  were  to  reason  in  a  circle. 

At  the  last  judgment,  a  day  of  insufferable  splendor 
will  dawn  upon  us  ;  a  scene  of  tremendous  magnifi- 
cence will  be  displayed  before  these  eyes,  and  these 
ears  will  hear  that  trumpet's  stunning  thunder.  And 
you  and  I,  who  are  now  before  a  mercy-seat,  will 
encompass  a  judgment-seat. 

There  is  one  controversy  which  the  last  day  shall 
forever  determine — the  long  and  unhappy  controversy 
about  the  Divinity  of  Jesus.  How  it  shall  be  decided  I 
leave  you  to  judge,  after  I  shall  have  asked  a  few  ques- 
tions. If  the  mover  of  all  those  sublime  scenes,  the 
agent  in  all  those  grand  transactions,  be  not  God,  where 
is  God  1  and  why  takes  he  no  part  in  the  doings  of  this 
last  tremendous  day  1     If  Omnipotence  be  not  in  this 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D,  D.  S57 

work  of  general  desolation,  where  is  Omnipotence  slum- 
bering] Where  is  the  work  that  befits  Omnipotence  1 
If  a  mere  creature  is  sitting  on  the  throne  of  the  Uni- 
verse, where  sits  Jehovah "?  Tell  me.  Reason.  And 
why  and  where  has  he  retired,  when  now  the  destiny 
of  men  and  angels  is  determining]  If  it  be  not  Om- 
niscience on  that  throne,  if  not  Omniscience,  which, 
from  the  lost  archangel  down  to  the  least  human  sin- 
ner, sears  every  life,  searches  every  spirit,  and  scru- 
tinizes the  inmost  thoughts  and  the  deepest  purposes, 
what  has  Omniscience  to  dol  I  had  thought  it  was 
Deity,  at  whose  stepping  forth  the  everlasting  moun- 
tains are  scattered,  and  the  perpetual  hills  do  bow — 
Deity,  from  whose  face  the  heaven  and  the  earth  do 
flee  away — Deity,  that  keeps  the  keys  of  death  and  of 
hell — Deity,  who  sits  on  the  throne  of  the  universe — 
Deity,  at  whose  hands  I  am  to  receive  the  eternal 
recompense. 


MORAL  RESULTS. 

No  results  are  so  important  and  magnificent  as  moral 
results — those  which  affect  the  character,  and  through 
it,  the  destiny  of  intelligent  beings.  There  is  no  evil 
like  that  of  sin,  no  good  like  that  of  holiness.  There  is 
no  beauty  like  that  which  sometimes  adorns  the  soul, 
no   deformity  like   that  which  sometimes,  yea,  often. 


358  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

debases  it.  The  discovery  of  a  continent,  the  revolu- 
tion of  an  empire,  the  political  emancipation  of  a  nation, 
are  nothing  when  compared  with  the  renovation  of  a 
soul.  There  is  no  earthly  achievement  to  compare 
with  this.  Nothing  that  takes  place  on  earth  moves 
angels  to  rejoice  as  this  does.  There  is  no  calamity 
like  the  loss  of  a  soul.  No  physical  destruction,  no 
political  downfall  involves  a  ruin  like  that  which  is 
effected,  when  a  single  immortal  spirit  perishes.  The 
most  important  moral  results  are  those  accomplished  by 
the  Gospel. 

It  will  prove  to  some  their  greatest  misfortune,  that 
they  have  heard  of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Thus 
shall  that  be  suffered  to  aggravate,  which  was  intended 
to  remove  condemnation.  The  rock  of  salvation  be- 
comes a  stone  of  stumbling,  and  a  rock  of  offence ;  and 
that  which  was  intended  to  be  built  upon,  failing, 
crushes  to  powder.  How  melancholy,  that  any  should 
be  worse  off  through  eternity,  in  consequence  of  a 
Saviour's  coming. 


THE   SUPPER  OF   THE   LAMB. 

The  marriage-feast  of  the  New  Testament  will  be 
celebrated  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  judgment. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  359 


HEAVEN. 

A  REST  remaineth  to  the  people  of  God.  The  mean- 
est saint  shall  enjoy  it.  The  moment  he  shall  put  off 
this  robe  of  mortality,  the  mantle  of  Elijah's  God  shall 
descend  and  cover  him. 

This  world  is  to  heaven,  what  the  inn  upon  the  road 
is  to  the  home  at  the  end  of  it, 

God  is  everywhere,  but  not  so  manifestly  in  all  places 
as  he  is  in  some  select  places.  He  is  everywhere,  but 
his  Shekinah  is  not  everywhere.  He  does  not  reveal 
himself  everywhere.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  filled  the 
ancient  temple,  but  it  dwelt  peculiarly  and  visibly  above 
the  mercy-seat,  in  the  most  holy  place.  The  glory  of 
God  fills  the  earth,  but  there  are  localities  in  the  uni- 
verse where  it  shines  forth  with  peculiar  splendor.  God 
is  everywhere,  but  his  "  presence,  where  there  is  fulness 
of  joy,"  is  not  everywhere.  Heaven  is  not  merely  a 
state. 

Grace  is  the  infancy  of  glory — glory  the  maturity  of 
grace.  Grace  is  the  head  of  glory — glory  the  ripe  fruit 
of  grace. 

How  glorious  and  happy  a  place  heaven  must  be,  into 
which  there  shall  nothing  enter  that  defileth.  There 
we  shall  never,  never  sin.  Oh  !  it  is  the  grand  recom- 
mendation of  heaven,  that  there,  there  is  no  sin.  The 
cause  not  being  there,  none  of  the  effects  will  be  there 
— no  natural  evil,  because  no  moral  evil ;  no  debility, 
deformity,  disease,  ache,  pain,  perturbation,   fear,  an- 


-360  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

guish,  nor  sadness.  No  tear  shall  fall,  no  blood  be 
spilt,  no  separation  occur,  no  bereavement  be  felt,  no 
disappointment,  no  satiety,  no  death. 


FUTURE  PUNISHMENT. 

The  penalty  of  neglecting  the  Gospel,  shall  never 
exhaust  its  pains  upon  the  soul. 

Painful  as  the  loss  of  a  member  is,  more  painful  will 
be  the  subjection  of  the  whole  body  to  the  eating  of 
the  worm  that  never  dies,  and  the  action  of  the  fire 
that  is  not  quenched.  Better  cross  the  will,  than 
wound  the  conscience.  There  is  no  suffering  like  that 
which  is  inflicted  on  a  man  by  his  own  conscience. 
No  sting  pierces  so  deep  and  so  keen  as  that.  Men 
dread  and  deprecate  material  fire  ;  but  there  is  a  flame 
that  burns  more  intensely,  and  torments  more  exquis- 
itely, than  that.  It  is  the  wrath  of  an  offended  and 
injured  God.  Ah  !  who  can  dwell  with  that  1  Who 
can  lie  down  on  a  bed  of  such  burnings,  so  intense,  and 
everlasting  too  1  Ah !  how  its  first  attack  unnerved 
and  overcame  the  self-indulgent  man,  of  whose  state, 
after  death,  our  Saviour  tells  us.  Ah  !  how  will  ye 
self-indulgent  men,  children  of  pleasure,  be  able  to 
bear  these  things,  how  brace  yourselves  to  such  suffer- 
ings 1  Ye,  who  have  been  accustomed  to  another  kind 
of  bed,  wlren  ye  must  lie  down  on  this,  what  will  ye 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  361 

do  ?  Ye,  who  can  scarce  endure  a  disagreeable  sensa- 
tion, the  derangement  of  a  single  nerve,  how  will  ye  be 
able  to  abide  the  eternal  annoyance  of  the  worm  that 
never  dies?  "If  thy  hand  offend  thee,  cut  it  off;  if 
thine  eye,  pluck  it  out — it  is  better  for  thee." 

Sinners  are  taking  measures  most  effectually  to  bring 
on  themselves  the  very  evils  which  they  are  most  anx- 
ious to  avoid.  They  are  afraid  of  being  laughed  at — 
they  cannot  bear  contempt  and  ridicule,  and,  therefore, 
they  remain  irreligious.  Surely  they  forget  that  this  is 
the  very  method  to  secure  a  resurrection  to  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt — to  make  Christ  and  his  angels 
ashamed  of  them  in  the  last  day,  and  to  cause  Him  that 
sitteth  in  the  heavens  to  hold  them  in  derision,  while 
eternity  endures. 

Some  say  the  doctrine  of  future  punishment  may 
be  believed,  though  it  be  false,  for  it  does  good.  But, 
if  false,  the  doctrine  ought  to  be  exploded.  It  is  doing 
mischief.  It  is  creating  unnecessary  terror,  under  the 
influence  of  which  it  is  not  the  will  of  God  that  his 
rational  creatures  should  act.  If  they  cannot  be  per- 
suaded into  their  duty  by  the  truth,  he  does  not  wish 
them  to  be  frightened  into  it  by  error.  It  is  libellous 
towards  God,  that  error  is  better  than  truth.  The 
Bible  scorns  such  pleadings,  when  it  warns  us  of  the 
wrath  to  come,  and  announces  a  hell  of  torment,  with 
as  perfect  clearness  as  it  does  a  heaven  of  delight. 

If  all  the  wicked  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  pun- 
ishment, it  is  but  a  sorry  consolation  that  there  are 
different  degrees  of  suffering  in  the  world  of  wo.     I 

admit  that  there  will  be  varieties  of  misery  among  the 

31 


362  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

subjects  of  perdition,  and,  in  vindication  of  the  justice 
of  God,  the  doctrine  should  be  preached  ;  but  let  it  not 
be  misunderstood,  let  it  not  be  made  a  ground  of  con- 
solation, which  it  was  never  intended  to  be,  to  the 
wicked.  Yes,  there  will  be  varieties,  but  let  it  be  con- 
sidered what  every  variety  will  include  :  the  bitterness 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  the  blackness  of  darkness  forever, 
the  loss  of  heaven,  the  forfeiture  of  the  Divine  favor, 
the  worm  that  never  dies,  the  fire  that  is  not  quenched, 
eternity,  and  its  child  by  misery,  despair.  Will  any 
cup  be  tolerable,  which  has  these  ingredients  in  it '?  Is 
there  any  consolation  here  *?  Will  you  be  spending 
your  time  in  comparing  one  flame  with  another,  in 
point  of  fierceness,  or  one  worm  with  another,  in  point 
of  appetite,  when  you  ought  to  be  fleeing  from  the 
wrath  to  come,  and  reaching  forth  to  lay  hold  on  the 
hope  that  is  set  before  you  1 


HELL. 


That  state  must  be  exceedingly  dreadful,  whose 
horrors  are  aggravated,  and  whose  sufferings  are  in- 
creased, by  the  society  of  the  nearest  relatives  and 
dearest  friends  one  had  on  earth.  Such  is  the  state 
of  the  lost.     See  Luke  xvi,  28. 

How  intense,  unmixed,  and  uniform,  the  enjoyment 
of  every  impenitent  sinner  ought  to  be,  when  one  thinks 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  363 

how  short  it  is,  and  how  irrecoverable,  and  what  comes 
when  it  is  gone — shame  and  ruin. 

Many  say  they  do  not  believe  God  ever  made  a  crea- 
ture to  damn  him,  and,  in  so  saying,  suppose  they  say 
a  very  smart  thing,  and  something  quite  conclusive  in 
favor  of  their  salvation.  It  is  admitted  that  God  never 
made  a  creature  to  damn  him.  But,  is  a  thing  never 
put  to  a  use  for  which  it  was  not  originally  designed  ] 
God  never  made  a  creature  to  suffer  damnation.  Nei- 
ther did  he  ever  make  a  creature  to  sin,  and  to  deserve 
damnation.  But  creatures  have  sinned,  and  have  de- 
served it,  though  it  was  not  the  object  for  which  they 
were  originally  made.     See  Ezekiel,  15th  chapter. 

There  is  as  much  in  the  Bible  to  prove  that  all  men 
will  go  to  hell,  as  that  all  will  go  to  heaven ;  and,  for 
my  part,  I  would  as  soon  undertake  to  maintain  the 
position  that  every  body  will  be  lost,  as  that  every  body 
will  be  saved. 

It  is  written  with  the  pen  of  heaven  that  there  is  a 

HELL. 

I  pity  any  man,  whose  only  hope  that  he  will  be 
saved,  is  the  hope  that  all  will  be  saved  ;  and  whose 
expectation  of  escaping  hell  is,  that  there  is  no  such 
place. 

The  radical  error  of  Universalism  is,  its  utter  con- 
founding, and  even  abolishing,  of  distinctions  in  moral 
character,  and  its  utter  disregard  of  the  great  doctrine 
of  the  conditions  or  terms  of  salvation. 

We  might  as  well  infer  from  the  goodness  of  God, 
that  there  never  has  been  any  suffering  in  the  world, 
and  that  all  mankind  are,  at  this  moment,  as  happy  as 


364  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

they  are  capable  of  being,  in  defiance  of  the  most 
assured  knowledge  of  every  man,  as  to  conclude  from 
that  attribute  of  Jehovah,  that  there  shall  be  no  suffer- 
ing in  the  world  to  come.  If,  because  God  is  good,  I 
may  be  certain  that  I  shall  be  happy  in  eternity,  I  may, 
for  the  same  reason,  infer  that  I  shall  be  happy  to-mor- 
row, next  day,  and  throughout  life.  If  God's  goodness, 
which  is  perfect  and  infinite,  be  any  argument  against 
suffering,  it  must  stand  good  against  all,  the  least, 
suffering.  And,  if  my  persuasion  that  God  wishes  well 
to  his  creatures  may  reconcile  me  to  be  unconcerned 
and  inactive  for  eternity,  why  should  it  not  reconcile 
me  to  an  equal  unconcern  and  inaction  for  all  coming 
time  1  Surely  I  can  trust  a  good  and  merciful  God  for 
one  period  of  my  existence,  as  well  as  for  another. 
Will  not  He,  whom  men  expect  to  take  care  of  their 
eternal  interests,  without  any  concern  on  their  part, 
take  equal  care  of  their  temporal  interests  1  Why  are 
they  not,  then,  as  thoughtless  and  improvident  for  this 
life,  as  they  are  for  that  which  is  to  come  1  It  is  sin, 
and  not  a  proper  regard  to  *.he  goodness  of  God,  that 
makes  men  unconcerned  about  their  souls. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  365 


TRIBUTE   TO  THE   MEMORY  OF   THE 
REV.   SYLVESTER  EARNED. 

A  RICH  and  noble  trophy  hath  death  taken  in  him, 
the  saddening  news  of  whose  departure,  has  just  reached 
us.  I  say  nothing,  because  he  needs  not  the  breath  of 
human  eulogy  to  fan  his  spirit  to  its  resting-place ;  for 
already  it  is  hushed  and  happy  upon  the  bosom  of  its 
God.  But  I  allude  to  him  that  I  may  answer  a  de- 
mand from  this  heart,  met,  I  trust,  by  a  demand  from 
many  hearts  in  this  congregation,  that  I  may  speak  of 
him  from  the  place  he  so  loved  and  honored — that  I 
may  leave  with  you,  my  brief  and  feeble  testimony  of 
his  worth. 

He  was  just  going,  after  having  completed  his  aca- 
demical course,  to  give  himself  to  the  world ;  but  then 
the  Almighty  whispered  to  his  heart.  He  heard,  and 
went  to  the  temple,  and  presenting  himself  before  the 
altar,  consecrated  himself  and  his  talents  to  God,  God 
accepted  the  offering,  and  holy  fire  came  down  and 
animated  him.  When  he  came  before  the  world,  in 
spite  of  the  urgency  of  many  solicitations,  the  charm 
of  Christian  society,  the  voice  of  friendship  and  of  fame, 
more  fascinating  than  all,  intreating  him  to  stay ;  he 
betook  himself  to  the  intrepid  work  of  introducing  the 
Gospel  into  that  city  of  living  and  breathing  death. 
He  accomplished  what  none  had  the  courage  to  at- 
tempt, and  was  devising  more,  when,  long  ere  he  had 

reached  the  noon  of  his  life,  the  summons  came  to 

31* 


366  SELECT    REMAINS    OP 

demand  the  residue  of  his  day.  God  said  it  was 
enough ;  and  he  breathed  out  his  great  and  gallant 
spirit  to  him  who  gave  it.  This  rich  and  valued  speci- 
men of  man,  around  which  his  fellow-men  used  to 
gather,  to  look  upon  it  and  admire,  and  which  every 
one  wished  to  call  his  own,  its  Maker  has  reclaimed 
for  himself,  and  keeps  it  in  his  cabinet  of  men  made 
perfect. 

The  testimony  to  his  worth  and  greatness  is  in  the 
strange  and  unheard  of  fact,  that  the  fall  of  a  young 
man  of  twenty-four  has  sent  a  shock  of  sorrow  through 
the  States,  and  awakened  emotions  of  deep  and  real 
grief,  where  he  was  never  seen  nor  heard. 

Scarcely  has  death  ever  stopped  the  beat  of  a  warmer 
or  more  expanded  heart,  or  quenched,  so  far  as  it  can 
quench,  the  light  of  a  more  brilliant  intellect.  But  it 
is  all  over.  The  music  of  his  beseeching  eloquence, 
winning  souls  to  God,  shall  be  heard  no  more  ;  but  it 
shall  live  in  the  memory  of  many.  His  absence  shall 
help  to  wean  many  hearts  from  the  world.  He  was 
one  of  those  few  men,  whose  death  shall  make  us  wil- 
ling to  die.  And,  in  the  general  revelation,  these  eyes 
shall  see  him  again  in  peace,  these  ears  shall  hear,  this 
hand  shall  grasp  the  hand  no  longer  chilled,  and  this 
heart  shall  again  commingle  and  coalesce  with  the 
heart  of  him  for  whom  it  feels. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,  D.  D.  367 


EXTRACTS  FROM   DISCOURSES. 


The  following  pages  consist  of  detached  thoughts,  notices  of  striking  events, 
&c.,  taken  from  the  Scrap-books  of  Dr.  Nevins.  It  is  not  supposed  that 
he  is  the  author  of  every  line  or  sentence ;  yet  it  was  his  constant  habit  to 
give  credit  in  his  Scrap-books  for  quotations.  All  thus  marked  as  quoted, 
or  known  to  be  taken  from  others,  are  here  omitted.  It  was  at  one  time 
intended  to  arrange  the  following  sentences  either  in  chapters  according 
to  the  subject,  or  to  incorporate  them  with  the  matter  of  the  foregoing 
pages  ;  but  a  little  reflection  soon  suggested  the  inutility,  and  even  unde- 
sirableness,  of  such  an  arrangement,  even  if  it  were  made. 

Can  you  think  of  these  things  and  not  feel  the  im- 
pulse of  gratitude  1  Can  you  believe  in  all  this  love 
and  not  be  constrained  by  it]  Can  you  contemplate 
the  riches  of  creation  all  made  over  to  you  1  Can  you 
look  at  the  bounties  of  Providence,  filling  all  your 
desires  and  anticipating  all  your  wants  1  Can  you 
behold  the  cross  of  your  redemption,  and  see  your 
atonement  in  that  blood,  and  your  life  in  that  death, 
and  go  away  and  refuse  to  give  up  yourselves  in  con- 
secration to  that  God,  who  stretched  out  and  garnished 
creation,  presides  in  Providence,  and  reared  the  cross  1 

The  radical  error  of  the  Unitarian  system  is,  that 
men  are  saved  by  power  or  influence.  But  the  truth  is, 
we  are  saved,  not  by  any  action,  but  by  a  passion — not 
by  exertion,  but  by  endurance — not  by  any  vital  ener- 
gy, but  by  dying  blood.  It  was  not  finished  till  Christ 
died.  We  are  made  nigh  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and 
by  his  stripes  healed. 


368  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Methinks  the  manner  of  our  salvation  should  greatly 
affect  us — that  we  live  because  Christ  died — and  that 
our  joys  are  the  fruit  of  his  sorrows. 

The  neglect  of  any  duty  is  as  dangerous  as  the  neg- 
lect of  all  duty. 

One  allowed  sin  is  as  certainly  fatal  as  a  thousand. 
— That  which  makes  sin  so  evil  and  fatal,  is,  that  its 
object  is  God. 

If  I  could  find  any  way  of  answering  God  for  one 
of  a  thousand,  I  think  I  should  have  found  a  way  of 
answering  for  the  whole  thousand. 

The  plea  "  it  was  but  once"  never  merited  a  hearing. 

If  any  duty  may  be  neglected,  what  is  it  *? — God  is 
the  creditor  in  regard  to  every  moral  debt  that  is  due, 
to  whatever  being  it  be  owed  immediately. 

Pardon  is  not  an  object  of  mere  power. — There  is  no 
intelligent  being  but  refrains  from  doing  many  things 
for  which  he  has  both  inclination  and  power,  and  that 
because  of  some  moral  reason. 

Christians  often  seem  to  like  pilgrimage  better  than 
home,  and  are  reluctant  to  be  delivered  at  once  from  all 
sin  and  sorrow. 

"  I  am  not  afraid,"  says  a  daring  adventurer.  Alas  ! 
how  many  have  fallen  by  that  courage — have  met  their 
ruin  by  going  where  they  were  not  at  all  afraid  to  go. 

It  matters  not  so  much  where  you  are,  and  how  you 
are,  as  what  you  are. 

There  are  roses  without  a  thorn,  pleasures  that  have 
no  poison,  sweets  without  a  snare.     Be  these  mine. 

The  amount  of  the  Christianity  of  some  is,  that  they 
are  willing  Christ  should  do  them  all  the  good  in  his 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  369 

power,  and  they  are  willing  to  obey  him  in  so  far  as  it 
falls  in  with  their  convenience. 

Men  adhere  tenaciously  to  a  false  religion ;  but  the 
professors  of  the  true  have  ever  shown  a  strange  pro- 
pensity to  forsake  it.  The  truth,  and  spiritual  worship 
of  God  cannot  be  maintained  among  men,  without  con- 
tinual Divine  interpositions;  Jeremiah  ii,  11. 

There  are  certain  great  principles  clearly  laid  down 
in  Scripture,  in  relation  to  giving,  and  the  use  of  pro- 
perty generally,  which,  by  almost  all  men,  are  scepti- 
cally disregarded — as,  e.  g.,  1.  That  what  we  have,  we 
hold  as  stewards  that  must  give  account.  2.  That  the 
way  to  increase  is  to  distribute — some  are  rich  because 
liberal.  3.  That  what  is  given  to  the  poor,  is  loaned 
to  the  Lord.  4.  That  God  has  designated  a  tenth  him- 
self— and  Pagans  give  that  proportion  to  their  gods. 
5.  That  what  is  done  to  Christians,  is  done  to  Christ. 

The  government  of  the  universe  is  not  republican, 
but  for  the  very  reason  it  should  not  be,  every  other 
should  be. 

It  is  policy,  as  well  as  duty,  to  submit  to  the  judg- 
ments of  God. 

See  how  much  better  it  was  with  them  who  went 
into  captivity,  than  those  who  remained  at  Jerusalem  ; 
Isa.  xxiv. 

None  are  so  cruel  as  enraged  ecclesiastics.  The 
priests  and  prophets  would  have  put  Jeremiah  to  death, 
but  the  princes  saved  him  ;  Jer.  xxvi.  Better  appear 
before  Pilate  than  Caiaphas. 

There  are  two  effects  of  the  cross  of  Christ — two  rea- 
sons why  we  should  glory  in  it — an  expiatory  effect,  a 


370  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

moral  effect.  It  is  because  of  the  latter  Paul  exclaims, 
"  God  forbid,"  &c. 

The  Christian's  fear  of  death  is  chiefly  in  anticipa- 
tions, but  diminishes  as  he  approaches  the  mortal  hour 
when  it  becomes  extinct.  It  is  quite  otherwise  with 
impenitent  sinners. 

Deuteronomy  xiii,  1-5,  teaches,  that  though  a  mira- 
cle should  be  wrought  in  confirmation  of  a  doctrine 
contrary  to  a  truth  of  the  Bible,  the  doctrine  is  not  to 
be  believed — and  that  God  sometimes  permits  this  to 
try  his  people.  It  is  contended  by  many,  and  this 
passage  would  seem  to  imply  as  much,  that  before 
full  credit  is  given  to  a  miracle,  the  nature  of  the 
doctrine,  in  proof  of  which  it  is  wrought,  should  be 
considered. 

Nothing  can  more  forcibly  illustrate  the  malignity  of 
imbelief,  than  the  treatment  which  Christ  will  hereafter 
show  to  unbelievers.  It  is  he  that  will  say,  "  Depart 
ye  cursed ;"  and  he  will  say  it  to  many  to  whom  it  was 
said,  "  Come  unto  me."  What  a  change  !  And  why  1 
Unbelief  is  the  cause. 

When  a  parent  offers  a  child  a  favor,  and  he  refuses 
it,  how  apt  he  is  to  withdraw  the  offer.  Is  there  not 
danger  of  God's  withholding  the  offer  of  life,  from  those 
that  persist  in  refusing  1 

Free  living  leads  to  free  thinking. 

The  very  existence  of  Christianity  is  a  demonstration 
of  its  truth  and  divinity. 

There  are  no  arbitrary  mysteries  in  Christianity. 
They  are  all  necessary.  Whatever  is  concealed  from 
man,  his  own  finiteness  conceals  from  him. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  371 

Some  of  the  most  important  tests  of  Christian  charac- 
ter we  are  in  the  habit  of  overlooking,  such  as  self- 
denial,  and  mourning  for  the  sins  of  others — and  we 
conclude  ourselves  to  be  Christians  on  equivocal  evi- 
dence. The  servants  of  righteousness  are,  by  a  sort  of 
necessity,  righteous ;  as  those  of  sin,  sinners.  Men  are 
self-arbiters  only  to  a  certain  extent. 

Men  put  off  religion  on  the  same  principle,  and  with 
the  same  intent,  that  they  put  off  paying  their  debts 
sometimes,  meaning  never  to  pay  them,  or,  at  least, 
hoping  to  be  able  to  avoid  payment. 

God  can  make  up  every  loss,  and  supply  every  lack, 
and  he  has  a  right  to  recall  every  loan. 

A  tyrant  is  one  who  substitutes  authority  for  law  and 
reason. 

There  is  no  example  of  a  lusus  gratiae  as  of  a  lusus 
naturae. 

That  our  discipline  in  admitting  members  to  the 
church  is  not  too  strict,  is  confirmed  by  the  world, 
when  they  say  that  there  are  so  many  in  that  ought 
not  to  be. 

That  our  actions  do,  in  some  respects,  coincide  with 
the  requirements  of  the  law  of  God,  does  not  constitute 
their  obedience.  To  be  obedient,  they  must  be  inten- 
tionally conformed  to  it,  and  out  of  a  regard  to  God's 
authority ;  that  is,  his  law  must  be  both  the  rule  and 
reason  of  our  obedience. 

Conscience  is  our  only  private  rule  of  action.  Error 
is  sin  existing  in  principle.  Sin  is  error  acted  out. 
We  are  as  answerable  for  our  motives  as  for  our  reso- 
lutions. 


372  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Our  feelings  and  actions  are  evidently  according  to 
our  belief. 

The  only  reason  why  a  man  should  wish  to  live,  is, 
that  he  may  be  useful.  This  was  that  which  recon- 
ciled Paul  to  live  ;  Phil.  i. 

It  is  curious  the  way  in  which  men  get  their  creed  or 
principles.  They  get  their  practice  first,  and  then  make 
their  principles  conform  to  it.  How  do  men  come  to 
think  certain  things  lawful  and  right  in  trade,  but  be- 
cause they  have  got  into  the  habit  of  practising  them, 
and  it  is  not  convenient  to  give  them  up.  "  If  I  believe 
so  and  so,"  says  one,  "then  I  shall  have  to  give  up  such  a 
thing  and  do  so  and  so."  This  is  being  afraid  of  the  truth. 

If  you  wish  merely  to  be  amused,  employ  not  the 
Gospel  to  do  it,  but  the  pipe,  timbrel,  and  dance.  God 
has  never  promised  to  render  his  people  what  the  world 
can  admire. 

Christ  was  not  a  partisan  with  the  sinner  against  the 
law. 

When  a  sinner  asks  what  he  must  do  to  be  saved,  tell 
him  not  what  he  may  do  and  yet  be  lost — unless  it  be 
in  the  way  of  warning. 

Barbarians  never  civilize  themselves.  Civilized  na- 
tions have  sunk  into  barbarism,  but  not  the  reverse. 

How  few  men  act  from  principle  ! 

The  shadow  of  death  is  able  to  darken  the  brightest 
scene. 

Some  parents  and  masters  never  commend.  It  is  all 
reproof  and  censure.  They  seem  to  take  notice  only  of 
faults.  What  a  different  example  Christ  sets  in  his 
Epistles  to  the  churches  ! 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  373 

Look  at  the  case  of  Hezekiah,  as  illustrating  the  con- 
sistency of  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  with  the  fixedness  of 
the  Divine  purpose. 

What  are  the  obligations  immediate  of  those  who 
hear  the  Gospel  1  It  were  well  if  this  question  were 
settled  in  the  minds  of  ministers  and  Christians.  What- 
ever they  are,  they  ought  to  be  urged  on  the  conscience, 
and  not  others. 

I  bear  to  error  a  degree  of  the  same  hatred  that  I  feel 
towards  sin,  and  am  determined  to  persecute  the  one, 
as  I  do  the  other. 

That  which  Christ  pronounces  the  one  thing  needful, 
the  world  pronounces  the  only  thing  not  needful. 

The  quantity  of  life  is  to  be  estimated  not  merely 
from  the  duration,  but  also  from  the  intenseness  of 
living. 

Because  Jehu  obeyed  God  in  certain  respects,  though 
he  was  not  a  good  man,  God  promised  that  his  children 
to  the  fourth  generation  should  sit  on  the  throne  of 
Israel — and  so  it  came  to  pass.  This  was  not  merely 
a  fact  foreseen  by  God,  but  a  purpose  executed  by 
him. 

Amaziah  put  to  death  those  who  slew  his  father,  but 
not  their  children,  according  to  Deut.  xxiv,  16.  Why, 
then,  did  the  family  of  Achan  perish  with  him  1 

Our  liberties  are  in  danger,  from  what  ? — from  Pa- 
pists in  religion,  and  no  other  religionists.  Hear  what 
they  contend  for. — 1.  That  they  can  forgive  sins.  2. 
That  the  efficacy  of  sacraments  depends  on  the  inten- 
tion of  the  administrator.      This  puts  the  people  in  the 

power  of  the  priesthood  completely — a  grand  falsehood. 

32 


374  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Some  wonder  why  the  Protestant  clergy  have  not  as 
much  power  and  influence  as  Popish  priests.  Here  is 
a  reason.  Protestantism  is  the  palladium  of  liberty. 
3.  That  they  are  the  only  authorized  expositors  of  the 
Bible. 

The  main  part  of  mankind  are  so  thoughtless,  that  it 
has  become  a  eulogy  to  say  a  man  thinks^  though  it 
raises  him  only  above  a  dog  or  a  horse. 

Inconveniences  are  rather  found  by  experience,  than 
forseen  by  judgment.     Hence  beware  of  innovations. 

He  who  cannot  rear  a  hut,  may  demolish  a  palace. 

The  wish  is  father  to  the  thought. 

I  would  not  believe  in  Popery,  though  signs  and 
wonders  should  be  wrought  in  support  of  it ;  Deut.  xiii, 
12   3 

Every  vice  has  a  name  of  honor,  and  every  virtue 
an  epithet  of  disgrace.  Pharaoh  asked,  "  who  is  the 
Lord  ?"     God  taught  him  by  the  plagues  who  he  was. 

Good  thoughts  pass  through  carnal  hearts,  but  settle 
not  there. 

Those  who  attempt  most  good,  will  suffer  most  scandal. 
Hence  the  hue  and  cry  against  some  more  than  others. 

What  different  things  interest  heaven  and  earth  ! 

Men  often  think  they  are  benefited  by  preaching 
when  they  are  not.  They  are  interested,  but  it  is  not 
the  right  kind  of  interest  they  feel.  Predestination  is 
objected  to  by  many,  because  it  is  supposed  that  the 
end  is  determined,  without  regard  to  the  means. 

He  is  an  infidel  who  believes  in  the  innocency  of 
unbelief,  or  who  does  not  acknowledge  the  obligations 
of  faith. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  375 

Grant  the  Universalist  all  that  he  contends  for,  in 
regard  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  everlasting,  and  still 
he  cannot  prove  but  that  future  punishment  is  literally- 
endless  ;  for,  all  he  can  show,  is,  that  the  word  does 
not  always  mean  endless,  and,  therefore,  may  not  in 
this  case. 

The  first  taste  of  the  cup  of  blessing  is  bitter. 

God  sometimes  takes  the  will  for  the  deed,  but  never 
the  deed  for  the  will.  A  life  of  prayer  is  followed  by 
an  eternity  of  praise. 

Few  men  sin  long  against  conviction. 

There  are  some  who  never  go  out  of  mourning  until 
they  put  on  their  grave  clothes.  We  sometimes  feel 
too  much  to  think. 

We  die  out  of  turn. 

If  we  live  only  if  the  Lord  will,  how  strange  that  we 
live  so  long,  when  we  so  greatly  provoke  him. 

No  created  being  is  so  like  God  as  the  immortal  soul, 
yet  religion  in  the  soul  is  a  thousand  times  more  divine 
than  the  soul  itself.  If,  by  chance,  there  is  an  earth,  by 
chance  there  may  be  a  hell. 

It  was  the  tenth  commandment  that  convicted  Paul. 
He  says,  "  I  had  not  known  sin  unless  the  law  had  said. 
Thou  shall  not  covet."  It  was  because  that  law  reaches 
the  heart. 

A  man's  conscience  is  sometimes  too  strong  for  his  creed. 

There  is  no  professed  Christian  who  is  not  able  both 
to  advance  and  to  disgrace  religion.  "  Let  as  many  ser- 
vants," &c. 

Happiness  depends  not  on  our  possessions,  but  dispo- 
sitions. 


376  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

We  speak  of  a  mysterious  Providence.  How  neces- 
sarily a  great  deal  of  Providence  must  be  mysterious  ! 
It  would  be  strange  indeed,  if  we  could  comprehend,  the 
plan  of  God  in  the  government  of  the  universe. 

Some  have  their  oil  to  buy  when  they  want  it  to  burn. 

Christ  says  to  all,  "  take,  eat ;"  but  many  decline  the 
offer. 

Let  us,  when  contending  for  the  doctrine  of  Christian- 
ity, not  forget  its  spirit. 

The  two  men  who  were  most  interested  in  finding 
Christ  guilty,  bore  their  testimony  to  his  innocence. 
"  I  have  betrayed  innocent  blood."  "  I  find  no  fault  in 
him." 

Christ  became  man  that  he  might  have  an  eye  to 
weep,  as  well  as  to  see  with. 

Man  is  not  saved  by  power. 

If  the  throne  of  grace  be  so  delightful,  what  will  be 
the  throne  of  glory  ! 

It  is  strange  that  the  subject  of  grace  should  be  so 
unwilling  to  become  a  subject  of  glory. 

Shall  not  that  satisfy  my  conscience,  which  satisfies 
God  1     Is  my  conscience  more  holy,  more  just  than  Hel 

Ice  broken,  and  ice  melted,  represent  the  two  repent- 
ances. 

Will  the  Head  let  the  members  perish  ! 

Does  not  he  who  loves  the  head,  love  the  members 
also? 

Does  not  God  require  spiritual  obedience  of  men  1 

Sin  is  washed  away  in  baptism,  in  the  same  sense 
that  Christ's  flesh  is  eaten,  and  blood  drank,  in  the 
Lord's  supper. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,   D.   D.  377 

Sanballat  and  company  first  laughed,  then  got  angry, 
and  then  very  wroth,  as  the  building  of  the  wall  of 
Jerusalem  proceeded. 

If  a  man  refuse  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  it  is 
esteemed  as  a  refusal  of  subjection.  Does  it  justify  him 
in  not  taking  the  oath,  that  he  fears  he  would  not  keep 
hi  No  !  though,  while  he  is  assured  he  would  not 
keep  it,  being  conscious  of  wanting  the  spirit  of  subjec- 
tion, he  had  better  not  take  it. 

Prayer  has  a  power  more  than  omnipotent,  for  it  pre- 
vails over  omnipotence. 

There  are  those  who  not  only  live  without  God,  but 
may  be  said,  in  some  sense,  to  be  living  without  them- 
selves. Not  only  is  not  God  in  all  their  thoughts,  but 
even  themselves  are  not.  Not  only  do  they  live  with- 
out religious  reflections,  but  without  any  reflection 
whatever. 

Men's  miracles  are  as  silly  as  God's  are  sublime. 

If  the  delay  of  hope  sickens  the  heart,  what  will  be 
the  consequences  of  the  death  of  hope. 

When  a  wife  is  taken,  all  seems  lost  but  honor  and 
God.  At  such  a  time  the  whole  soul  is  heart,  and  the 
whole  heart  one  wound,  bleeding  and  not  bound  up, 
and,  but  for  God,  broken. 

The  brightest  blaze  of  intelligence  is  of  incalculably 
less  value  than  the  smallest  spark  of  charity. 

There  is  no  greatness  comparable  to  the  greatness  of 
goodness.  It  is  not  the  sages,  nor  the  statesmen,  but 
the  saints,  that  are  the  excellent  of  the  earth. 

The  want  of  mutual  esteem  among  men  of  genius,  is 

not  always  owing  to  envy  or  jealousy,  but  to  a  want  of 

32* 


378  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

sympathy,  and  a  deficiency  of  analogous  ideas  in  the 
parties. 

Richardson  and  Fielding  mutually  contemned  each 
other,  their  manner  being  so  unlike. 

Hence,  contempt  of  some  for  writings  which  require 
talents  different  from  their  own. 

The  personal  character  of  an  author  cannot  be  infer- 
red from  the  character  of  his  writings.  Bayle  was  a 
chaste  man — also  Smollet — Young,  cheerful,  and  pined 
for  preferment — Pascal  a  hypochondriac — Rochefoucauld 
an  example  of  the  moral  qualities  he  denied  to  exist — 
while  cardinal  De  Retz,  who  censured  him  for  question- 
ing the  reality  of  virtue,  had  none  of  them — Klopstock 
a  volatile  youth.     The  poet  is  a  painter  of  the  soul. 

The  virtues  of  Pagans  are  as  opposite  to  Christianity 
as  their  vices. 

We  must  not  employ  all  our  time  in  whetting  the 
scythe. 

There  is  evil,  and  a  way  to  escape  it.  This  is 
enough. 

That  assurance  which  sin  will  not  damp,  is  not  worth 
a  straw. 

A  reason  why  women  are  forbidden  to  preach.  They 
would  persuade  without  argument,  and  reprove  without 
giving  offence. 

This  world  is  a  hospital,  with  but  two  wards.  In  the 
one,  men  are  miserable  ;  in  the  other,  mad. 

See  the  unprofitableness  of  controversy  in  the  case  of 
Job  and  his  friends.  If  God  had  not  interposed,  and 
they  had  lived  till  now,  they  would  have  continued  the 
dispute. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  379 

Much  depends  on  the  way  by  which  we  come  into 
trouble.     Paul  and  Jonah  were  both  in  a  storm. 

It  is  wonderful  to  consider  how  easy  and  pleased  we 
are,  when  we  rally,  play  upon,  and  despise  others,  and 
how  angry  and  choleric  when  we  ourselves  are  rallied, 
played  upon,  and  despised. 

Gordon  Hall  was  offered  ten  thousand  a  year,  or 
fifty  pounds  a  week,  for  two  hours  of  the  day,  by  the 
East  India  Company,  as  an  interpreter.  Yet  he  had 
more  profitable  employment. 

They  only  are  kings  who  rule  themselves. 

There  are  but  about  sixteen  thousand  Moravians  in 
the  Christian  world,  and  yet  they  support  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  Missionary  establishments. 

Men  use  words  often  not  as  the  vehicle,  but  the  sub- 
stitute of  thought. 

The  hardened  sinner  speaks  of  original  sin  as  an 
excuse  for  actual  sin,  but  the  penitent  sinner  regards  it 
as  only  an  aggravation.  This  was  the  sentiment  of 
David,  as  expressed  in  Psalm  li. 

Prayer  is  the  breath  of  faith.  The  Christian  can 
climb  only  by  clinging. 

Harmony  is  the  perfection  of  character. 

He  that  is  intelligent,  will  be  intelligible. 

The  vital  organs  and  functions  are  independent  of 
the  will. 

Of  one  hundred  and  twenty  students  at  Andover, 
there  were  ninety-two,  both  of  whose  parents  were 
pious ;  one  hundred  and  twelve  had  each  a  pious 
mother,  and  one  a  pious  father.  Of  one  hundred  and 
twenty  subjects  of  the  late  revival  in  Yale,  only  three 


380  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

remained  to  be  baptized.  Of  one  hundred  students  in 
Middlebury,  ninety  were  pious,  and  all  in  the  Senior 
class  but  one,  and  he  anxious — two,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  late  revival,  were  so  hostile,  that  they 
burnt  their  Bibles,  and,  in  a  few  days  after,  they  were 
converted.  In  a  village  of  New  York,  containing  fifty- 
two  families,  all  but  six  had  family  prayer,  and  every 
person  in  the  village  over  ten  years  was  convinced. 

High  worth  is  elevated  place — 

'T  is  wealth,  though  it  commands  no  exchequer ; 

And,  though  it  wears  no  riband,  it  is  renown. 

This  is  true  glory  and  repute,  when  God, 
Looking  on  the  earth,  with  approbation  marks 
The  just  man,  and  divulges  him,  through  heaven, 
To  all  his  angels,  who,  with  true  applause, 
Recount  liis  praise. 

Similar  causes  under  similar  circumstances,  produce 
similar  effects  in  morals  as  in  physics.  But,  in  morals, 
we  do  not  always  know  when  the  circumstances  are 
similar. 

Knowledge  is  necessary  to  the  perception  of  ignorance. 

A  man's  affection  is  often  his  aiSliction. 

The  best  of  men,  are  men  at  the  best. 

Never  impute  a  bad  motive  when  you  can  find  a  good 
one. 

As  there  is  something  incomprehensible  in  God  in  his 
relations  to  space  and  time,  viz.,  his  omnipresence  and 
eternity,  why  should  there  not  be  in  his  relation  to 
number  ? 

We  confess  our  faults  in  the  plural,  and  denv  them  in 
the  singular. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  381 

The  Bible  is  a  telescope,  that  brings  to  view  the 
magnificent  prospect  of  eternity. 

Christ  wrought  no  miracles  of  vengeance. 

Levity  is  the  appearance  of  doing  evil. 

To  point  an  epigram  is  easier  than  to  produce  an 
argument. 

The  better  land. 
Eye  hath  not  seen  it,  my  gentle  boy, 
Ear  hath  not  heard  its  deep  songs  of  joy ; 
Dreams  cannot  picture  a  world  so  fair ; 
Sorrow  and  death  may  not  enter  there ; 
Time  doth  not  breathe  on  its  fadeless  bloom, 
Far  beyond  the  cloud  and  beyond  the  tomb ; 
It  is  there. 

In  heaven  an  ungodly  foot  (Foote)  tramples  on  the 
saints  no  more. 

Denials  in  love  are  better  than  grants  in  anger. 

The  Gospel  affords  a  cure,  but  supplies  no  anodyne. 

Some  are  employed  all  their  life  long  in  planting 
thorns  in  the  pillow  upon  which,  at  last,  they  are  to  lie 
down  and  die. 

All  relief  of  mind  is  not  conversion. 

Take  away  the  Bible,  and  the  human  race  has  lost 
its  records.    ^ 

Our  Judge  stepped  from  the  bench  and  died  for  us. 

The  blood  of  Christ  on  the  head  is  a  curse,  on  the 
heart  a  blessing. 

A  great  advantage  of  education  is  to  teach  us  how  to 
employ  our  leisure. 

Minor  sorrows  will  speak  out,  while  great  ones  are 
mute. 


383  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

God  speaks  before  he  strikes. 

When  the  ship  that  carried  Jonah  sailed  from  Joppa, 
there  was  only  one  good  man  aboard,  and  the  storm 
was  for  his  sake. 

My  boast  is  not  that  I  deduce  my  birth 
From  loins  enthroned,  and  rulers  of  the  earth ; 
But  higher  far  my  proud  pretensions  rise, 
The  son  of  parents  passed  into  the  skies. 

Hosea  must  have  prophesied  eighty  years,  and  yet  all 
that  remains  of  him  are  twelve  short  chapters. 

Sunbeam  of  summer,  Oh,  what  is  like  thee ! 

Hope  of  the  wilderness,  joy  of  the  sea ; 

One  thing  is  like  thee,  to  mortals  given. 

The  faith,  touching  all  things  with  hues  of  heaven. 

The  state  of  the  Christian,  while  on  earth,  is  not  one 
of  health,  but  of  convalescence. 

There  is  no  escape  from  education.  They  who 
would  teach  children  well,  must  first  learn  a  great  deal 
from  them. 

In  Paris,  during  the  Revolution,  theatres  increased 
from  six  to  twenty-five. 

There  are  five  kinds  of  conscience — ignorant,  f,atteringf 
seared,  wounded,  peaceable. 

The  worst  orphp,ns  are  those  who  have  wicked  pa- 
rents alive. 

While  parents  are  living,  there  seems  to  be  some- 
thing between  us  and  death ;  but,  when  they  are 
removed,  his  course  seems  open  to  us. 

No  man  is  discerned  to  be  vicious  so  soon  as  he  is  so. 
The  serpent's  sting  does  not  just  then  grow  when  he 
strikes  us  in  a  vital  part. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  383 

The  enormous  tools  that  nature  is  placing  in  our 
hands,  clearly  foretell  that  she  has  some  wonderful 
work  for  us  to  perform. 

Even  Jesus  had  the  trial  of  irreligious  relations ;  John 
vii,  5. 

In  judging  ourselves,  we  cannot  be  too  severe ;  in  judg- 
ing others,  we  cannot  be  too  candid.  We  should  judge 
ourselves  by  our  motives,  but  others  by  their  actions. 

Many  things  offend  us  which  do  not  hurt  us. 

Diogenes  reproached  Plato  for  never  having  given 
offence  to  any. 

The  name  Lamb  is  applied  to  Christ  in  his  exalta- 
tion, as  well  as  abasement. 

Apathy  is  the  worst  madness  a  people  can  possibly 
fall  into. 

A  drop  is  water,  and  a  spark  is  fire. 

Eternity  will  make  what  is  good,  better ;  but  what  is 
bad,  worse. 

Half  the  pleasure  of  solitude  arises  from  our  having  a 
friend  at  hand,  to  whom  we  can  say.  How  delightful 
this  retirement  is  ! 

Confidence  in  God  should  not  lead  us  to  disregard 
any  advantage  we  can  derive  from  ordinary  resources. 

God's  sovereignty  is  not  our  rule,  but  our  resource. 

We  never  know  the  worth  of  blessings,  till  we  know 
the  want  of  them. 

Let  us  live,  looking  upwards. 

He  is  the  poor  man,  who,  when  he  has  a  great  deal, 
desires  more.      Contentment  is  wealth. 

We  should  speak  not  merely  so  that  we  can  be  un- 
derstood, but  so  as  that  we  cannot  be  misunderstood. 


384  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

There  never  yet  has  been  a  state  of  society  commen- 
surate with  the  desires  and  capacities  of  man. 

If  brass  is  a  mirror  of  the  countenance,  wine  is  of  the 
mind. 

If  we  refuse  mercy  here,  we  shall  have  justice  to 
eternity. 

Wouldst  thou  be  crowned,  the  monarch  of  a  little 
world,  command  thyself. 

As  the  sun, 


Ere  it  is  risen,  sometimes  paints  its  image 
In  the  atmosphere — so  often  do  the  spirits 
0(  great  events  stride  on  before  the  events, 
And  in  to-day  already  walks  to-morrow. 

If  any  sin  is  fashionable.  Christians  should  be  out  of 
fashion. 

Pride  takes  no  delight  in  begging.  Hence,  "  the 
wicked,  through  the  pride  of  his  countenance,  will  not 
seek  after  God." 

Village  schools,  and  well  served  churches,  and  zeal- 
ous parish  ministrations,  and  a  universal  system  of 
popular  education,  into  which  the  lessons  of  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  largely  and  pervadingly  enter,  these 
form  the  main  elements  of  our  nation's  peace  and  our 
nation's  greatness. 

Christianity  in  earnest,  is  the  Christianity  that  speak- 
eth  urgently  and  importunately  to  the  consciences  of 
men ;  the  uncompromising  Christianity  that  enjoins 
the  holiness  of  the  New  Testament  in  all  its  spirituality 
and  extent,  and  asserts  the  doctrine  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  all  its  depth  and  all  its  peculiarity. 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,  U.  D.  385 

Our  not  doing  is  set  down  among  our  darkest  deeds. 

Expediency  is  weaker  than  the  tyrant's  plea. 

Any  man  can  nmch  better  afford  to  lose  money  than 
(o  do  wrong. 

It  seems  to  be  a  kiw  of  mind,  that,  once  perverted,  it 
should  never  be  able  to  recover  itself. 

The  idea  of  right  is  the  primary  and  highest  revela- 
tion of  God  to  the  human  mind.  We  little  understand 
the  solemnity  of  the  moral  principle  in  every  human 
mind. 

The  Christian  religion  is  a  testimony  to  the  worth  of 
man  in  the  sight  of  God,  to  the  importance  of  human 
nature,  and  to  the  infinite  purposes  for  which  we  were 
framed. 

I  estimate  political  revolutions  chiefly  b)'^  their  ten- 
dency to  exalt  men's  conceptions  of  their  nature,  and  to 
inspire  them  with  respect  for  one  anotlier's  claims. 

The  old  bonds  of  society  are  instinct,  interest,  force. 
The  true  tie  is  mutual  respect,  calling  forth  mutual  acts 
of  love. 

Nothing  is  to  make  man  a  true  lover  of  man,  but  the 
discovery  of  something  interesting  and  great  in  human 
nature.  Until  this  is  done,  all  charity  is  little  more 
than  instinct,  and  we  shall  but  coolly  embrace  the 
great  interests  of  human  nature. 

The  true  view  of  great  men  is,  that  they  are   only 

examples   and   manifestations   of  our   common  nature, 

showing  what  belongs  to  all  souls.     The  light  which 

shines  from  them  is  but  a  faint  revelation  of  the  power 

which  is  treasured  up  in  every  human  being.     Moral 

greatness  does  not  consist  in  doing  extraordinary  things, 

33 


386  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

but  in  doing  ordinary  things  with  a  great  mind,  that  is, 
with  a  view  to  please  and  glorify  God. 

I  was  a  stricken  deer,  that  left  the  herd 

Long  since.     With  many  an  arrow  deep  infixed 

My  panting  side  was  charged,  when  I  withdrew 

To  seek  a  tranquil  death  in  distant  shades. 

There  I  was  found  by  One  who  had  himself 

Been  hurt  by  archers.     In  his  side  he  bore, 

And  in  his  bands  and  feet,  the  cruel  scars. 

With  gentle  force  soliciting  the  darts, 

He  drew  them  forth,  and  healed  and  bade  me  live. 

"  Win  and  wear  it,"  is  the  motto  on  the  crown  we 
strive  for. 

Religion  should  be  not  a  rapture,  but  a  habit. 

Modesty  and  diffidence  always  attend  true  greatness, 
in  nature  and  in  grace.  Samuel  was  slow  to  tell  his 
vision ;  and  Paul  told  his  not  till  after  fourteen  years, 
and  then  by  compulsion. 

Conscience  is  a  bosom  friend  or  bosom  fury — the  quar- 
ter sessions  before  its  grand  assize. 

The  mind  is  the  standard  of  the  man. 

All  on  earth  is  shadow ;  all  beyond 

Is  substance.     The  reverse  is  folly's  creed. 

How  solid  all  where  change  shall  be  no  more. 

Christianity  was  intended  not  to  contract,  but  to  ex- 
pand our  affections. 

The  romance  of  religion  is  extremely  inimical  to  its 
reality. 

It  is  not  names,  but  things,  that  will  carry  it  at  the 
great  day. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  387 

The  word  presbyter,  or  elder,  primarily  signilies  an 
aged  person.  As  such  were  usually  selected  to  fill  sta- 
tions of  dignity  and  authority,  the  word  became  a  title 
of  office.  Presbyter  is  expressive  of  authority,  bishop  of 
duty. 

Moral  precepts  cannot  reform — there  must  be  a  heav- 
enly principle  implanted. 

Causes  of  misery  are  three,  a  sense  of  guilt,  the  fear  of 
danger,  and  a  discontented  mind.  There  are  wanting,  to 
make  us  happy,  a  sense  of  pardon,  a.  feeling  of  safety,  and 
a  contented  mind. 

A  man  governed  by  circumstances  instead  of  principles, 
can  never  display  character,  for  character  is  the  effect 
and  fame  of  habit. 

In  Scripture,  temptations  mean  not  always  enticements 
to  sin,  but  any  events  which  morally  try  us  in  the  way 
of  duty. 

Some  owe  no  man  any  thing,  but  they  rob  God. 

Charity  is  good  will  to  men,  not  good  opinion  of 
them. 

Those  who  suspect  all,  are  to  be  suspected.  They 
have  learned  human  nature  at  home. 

Miracles  are  the  credentials  of  Christianity ;  charity 
is  its  essence. 

Divine  grace  is  as  necessary  to  true  philanthropy  as 
to  piety. 

The  Christian  in  his  sick  room,  as  in  an  antecham- 
ber, dresses  for  heaven. 

The  whole  process  of  practical  and  experimental 
religion  is  carried  on  by  the  instrumentality  of  right 
sentiments. 


388  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

The  least  every  Christian  should  do,  is  to  resolve  so 
to  live,  as  to  give  no  occasion  for  the  truth  being  evil 
spoken  of  on  his  account. 

A  man's  family  is  but  himself  multiplied  and  reflected. 

"  All  wickedness  is  vv'eakness." 

If  weakness  may  excuse, 


What  murderer,  what  traitor,  parricide, 
Incestuous,  sacrilegious,  but  may  plead  it? 
All  wickedness  is  weakness 

He  who  will  not  reason,  is  a  bigot ;  he  who  cannot,  a 
fool ;  he  who  dares  not,  a  slave. 

Scarce  any  time  is  spent  with  less  thought,  than  a 
great  part  of  what  is  spent  in  reading. 

The  best  way  to  make  progress  is  to  teach  what  you 
have  learned. 

The  sacred  Scriptures  always  describe  rather  than 
define  faith,  and  show  what  it  is  by  what  it  does. 

Much  depends  on  the  nature  of  our  gratitude,  what 
we  thank  God  for. 

The  Christian's  burden  is  like  the  wings  of  a  bird, 
which  she  carries,  yet  they  support  her  in  her  flight  to 
heaven. 

What  must  be  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  when  its 
very  leaves  heal  the  nations. 

That  which  satisfies  the  righteousness  of  God,  may 
well  satisfy  the  alarmed  and  afflicted  conscience  of  the 
sinner. 

Sanctification  means  either  a  change  in  the  qualities 
of  things,  or  a  change  only  in  their  appropriation  and 
use. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  389 

We  may  cast  our  care  on  the  Lord,  but  not  our  work. 
We  must  not  expect  God  to  do  for  us,  what  we  can 
do  for  ourselves. 


Whence  came  I  ? — memory  cannot  say ; — 

What  am  I  ? — knowledge  will  not  show ; — 

Bound  wither? — Ah!  away!  away! 

Far  as  eternity  can  go. 

Thy  love  to  win,  thy  wrath  to  flee, 

Oh  God !  thyself  my  helper  be. 

Consistency  in  a  Christian  minister  is  mighty  elo- 
quence. 

God  loves  to  see  us,  while  trusting  in  his  faithful 
word,  disregarding  the  discouragements  of  his  Provi- 
dence. 

Prayer  is  nothing  without  earnestness  and  resolution. 
How  can  we  expect  that  God  should  regard  supplica- 
tions, with  which  we  are  unaffected  ourselves. 

If  the  arrow  of  prayer  is  to  enter  heaven,  we  must 
draw  it  from  a  soul  full  before. 

That  religion  which  leads  the  soul  to  God,  must  be 
right. 

The  infidel  does  not  pray — his  religion  is  wrong. 

Though  his  hand  be  lifted  up  to  destroy,  yet  from 
that  very  hand  do  I  expect  salvation. 

A  lawsuit  was  lately  instituted  in  Spain,  in  which  the 

heirs  of  a  rich  man  sued  the  church,  for  the  recovery  of 

moneys  paid  under  the  will  of  the  deceased,  to  purchase, 

at   the  fair  market  price,  twelve  thousand  masses  for 

his  soul.     The   priests,  though  they  took  the  money, 

objected  to  the  labor,  and  the  pope,  at   their  request, 

33* 


S90  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

abridged  it,  pronouncing  that  twelve  masses  should  be 
as  beneficial  as  twelve  thousand.  The  council  for  the 
church,  in  answer  to  this  allegation  of  non-performance 
of  contract,  produced  the  pope's  certificate,  that  the  soul 
had  been  delivered  by  the  efficacy  of  those  masses,  and, 
that  value  being  thus  received,  there  was  not  any 
breach  of  contract. 

Peter  died  A.  D.  66.  John  survived  him  forty  years 
— was  he  subject  to  the  successor  of  Peter  1 

The  greatest  honor  some  men  could  do  the  Christian 
name,  would  be  to  disclaim  it. 

Will  not  He  who  has  made  it  so  solemnly  obligatory 
on  men  to  provide  for  those  of  their  own  household, 
himself  provide  for  his  ? 

The  work  of  heaven  should  be  done  in  the  spirit  of 
heaven. 

Time  reproves,  but  eternity  commands. 

The  same  word  means  rule  and  feed — hence  kings 
and  rulers  should  be  pastors  and  shepherds. 

Religion  is  a  most  cheerful  and  happy  thing  to  prac- 
tise, but  a  most  sad  and  melancholy  thing  to  neglect. 
The  government  of  God  in  the  soul  is  a  government 
which  regulates,  but  does  not  enslave. 

There  are  three  lights,  of  nature,  of  grace,  and  of  glory. 
One  great  difficulty,  that  of  the  wicked's  prosperity, 
which  so  perplexed  Job,  Daniel,  &c.,  gives  way  to  a 
single  ray  of  evangelical  light,  which  reveals  a  future 
life  of  reward  and  punishment — as  the  light  of  grace 
clears  up  difficulties  which  the  light  of  nature  could 
not,  so  will  the  light  of  glory  clear  up  such  as  the  light 
of  grace  cannot. 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  391 

We  may  stop  sinning,  but  the  evil  influence  of  our 
past  guilt  must  be  checked  by  some  other  agency,  far 
more  powerful  than  any  penitence  of  ours. 

Affectation  is  the  offspring  of  vanity — it  does  not  rise 
to  what  a  man  of  the  world  would  call  the  dignity  of 
pride  ;  for  vanity  is  a  sin  which  is  hateful  even  to  sinners. 

True  courage  is  always  tender. 

The  great  interest  themselves  in  frivolities,  and  the 
aggregate  of  their  sentiments  is  termed  fashion. 

The  world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  are  formidable 
personages,  but  lucre  is  a  match  for  them  all. 

Death,  the  old  serpent's  son ! 

Thou  hadst  a  sting  once  like  thy  sire 

That  carried  hell  and  ever-burning  fire, 

But  those  black  days  are  done; 
Thy  foolish  spite  buried  thy  sting 

In  the  profound  and  wide 

Wound  of  a  Saviour's  side, 
And  now  thou  art  become  a  tame  and  harmless  thing: 

A  thing  we  dare  not  fear 

Since  we  hear 
That  our  triumphant  God,  to  punish  thee 
For  the  affront  thou  didst  him  on  the  tree, 
Hath  snatched  the  keys  of  hell  out  of  thy  hand 

And  made  thee  stand 
A  porter  at  the  gate  of  Life,  thy  mortal  enemy. 
Oh  thou  who  art  that  gate,  command  that  he 

May,  when  we  die. 

And  tluther  fly. 
Let  us  into  the  courts  of  heaven  through  thee. 

The  valley  of  humiliation  is  the  safest,  most  lovely, 
and  most  fertile  spot  between  the  city  of  destruction 
and  heaven. 


392  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Love  is  the  diamond  among  the  jewels  of  the  believer's 
breastplate.  The  other  graces  shine  like  the  precious 
stones  of  nature,  with  their  own  peculiar  lustre  and 
various  hues,  but  the  diamond  is  white,  uniting  all  the 
colors. 

How  unlike  is  the  Christian  world  to  the  Christian 
doctrine  !  The  seal  is  fair  and  excellent,  but  the  im- 
pression is  languid,  or  not  visible.  We  glory  in  the 
show  and  appearance  of  that,  the  life  and  power  where- 
of, we  hate  and  deride.  It  is  a  reproach  with  us  not  to 
be  called  a  Christian,  and  a  greater  reproach  to  be  one. 

If  such  and  such  doctrines  obtain  not  in  our  professed 
belief,  we  are  heretics  or  infidels  ;  if  they  do  in  our  prac- 
tice, we  are  precisians  and  fools.  In  other  things,  men 
are  wont  to  act  and  practise  according  to  the  known 
rules  of  their  several  callings  and  professions,  and  he 
would  be  reckoned  the  common  fool  of  the  neighbor- 
hood who  should  not  do  so. 

Men  are  afraid  to  be  serious,  lest  they  should  be 
thought  mad. 

The  experience  of  almost  six  thousand  years  hath 
testified  the  incompetency  of  every  worldly  thing  to 
make  men  happy.  But  the  practice  and  course  of  the 
world  are  such  as  if  this  were  some  late  and  sure  exper- 
iment which  (for  curiosity)  every  one  must  be  trying 
over  again.  Every  age  renews  the  inquiry  after  an 
earthly  felicity. 

The  sensual  man's  happiness  lies  in  colors,  tastes, 
and  sounds. 

Regeneration  is  an  introduction  of  the  very  principles 
of  blessedness. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  393 

Motion  and  rest  do  exactly  correspond  to  each  other. 
Nothing  can  naturally  rest  in  any  place  to  which  it 
was  not  before  naturally  inclined  to  move.  It  is,  there- 
fore, a  vanity  and  contradiction,  to  speak  of  the  soul's 
being  satisfied  in  that  which  it  was  not  before  con- 
scious of. 

Let  the  weary,  wandering  soul  bethink  itself  and 
retire  to  God.  He  will  not  mock  thee  with  shadows  as 
the  world  has  done. 

Too  many  annex  a  profession  of  eminent  godliness 
to  an  indulged,  garrulous,  impatient  temper  of  spirit. 
Nothing  pleases  them  ;  their  mercies  are  not  worth  the 
acknowledgment — their  afflictions  intolerable  ;  they  fall 
out  and  quarrel  with  all  occurrences,  actions,  events ; 
neither  man  or  God  doth  any  thing  good  in  their  sight 
— the  world  is  not  well  governed. 

Did  Christ  die  to  take  away  the  necessity  of  our 
being  Christians,  and  must  his  death  serve  not  to  de- 
stroy sin  out  of  the  world,  but  Christianity  ? 

Total  death  knows  no  grievances,  makes  no  com- 
plaint. He  who  feels  the  weight  of  death  is  not 
entirely  dead. 

Sickness  is  not  for  getting  religion,  but  for  trying  it. 

Old  men  change,  rather  than  leave  their  vices. 

Possibility  is  a  great  way  off  from  performance. 

Pharaoh  never  complained  of  his  heart's  hardness,  it 
was  so  hard. 

He  that  mourns  for  other's  sins,  does  not  mourn  from 
the  fear  of  hell. 

The  prospect  of  eternal  separation  from  some  they 
love  is  one  of  the  peculiar  afflictions  of  the  righteous. 


394  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

I  have  known  a  father's  affections  alienated  from  a 
child,  because  that  child  became  the  child  of  God ;  as 
if  he  was  unwilling  his  child  should  have  a  heavenly 
father  to  betake  himself  to,  in  the  anguish  of  being 
bereaved  of  his  earthly  parent. 

The  object  of  a  constitution  is  to  restrain  the  govern- 
ment, as  that  of  laics  is  to  restrain  individuals. 

To  give  to  the  rich  is  a  cleanly  way  of  begging,  or 
a  subtile  kind  of  trade.  It  is  hardly  courtesy ;  Prov. 
xxii,  16. 

A  hundred  to  one  is  the  rate  of  interest  God  allows 
now. 

The  rich  are  the  treasurers  of  God  for  other  men. 
The  honor  of  distribution  is  given  to  them. 

If  Christians  are  no  more  moral  than  Pagans,  yet 
Christians  are  irreligiously  so,  while  Pagans  are  reli- 
giously so — Christians  have  not  the  sanction  of  their 
religion  for  their  immorality  ;  Pagans  have. 

Nothing  is  so  unstable  as  the  people,  for  the  people 
consists  of  men,  every  one  of  whom  prefers  himself  to 
his  sovereign. 

The  hope  of  obtaining  a  good,  is  even  more  seductive 
than  the  possession  of  the  good  itself. 

Christ's  declaration  concerning  little  children,  "of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  decides  the  admissi- 
bility of  infants  to  privileges  which  they  cannot  appre- 
ciate. 

Notwithstanding  the  reformation  of  Josiah,  God 
would  not  turn  from  His  wrath  because  of  the  provo- 
cations of  Manasseh,  especially  for  the  innocent  blood 
he  shed,  which  the  Lord  would  not  pardon. 


WILLIAM    NEVINS,    D.  D.  395 

"We  remember  not  many  years'  health,  so  much  as 
one  day's  sickness. 

Satan's  temptations  are  not  om*  sins.  Not  we,  but 
he,  shall  answer  for  them.  "  Who  shall  lay  any  thing," 
&c. ;  Rom.  viii,  33, — not  God — Satan,  but  his  evidence 
will  not  be  heard  in  court.  "  He  is  a  liar,"  says  our 
judge  ;  John  viii,  44. 

Satan  knows  how  to  angle  for  souls  better  than  to 
show  them  the  hook  and  line,  or  fright  them  away  with 
a  noise,  or  with  his  own  appearance. 

Repentance  does  not  repair  the  evils  done. 

A  sinner  may  be  converted  at  too  great  an  expense. 

Scoffers  and  opposers  are  to  be  numbered  among  the 
partially  awakened. 

If  God  be  obeyed,  conversions  must  be  sudden,  for  he 
commands  to  repent  now. 

Praise  will  not  draw  the  Christian  out  of  a  corner, 
nor /ear  drive  him  into  one. 

Cruelty  is  too  great  an  epicure  to  devour  her  food  at 
once,  but  mumbles  it  to  prolong  her  pleasure. 

A  famous  bandit,  lately  executed  in  Spain,  wore  a 
haircloth  shirt,  and  about  his  person  was  found  a  rosary, 
a  prayer  book,  and  a  lock  of  hair  of  St.  Dominic,  be- 
sides a  poniard,  &c.  He  always  placed  a  cross  beside 
the  bodies  of  his  murdered  victims,  that  he  might  not, 
as  he  said,  sacrifice  the  soul  with  the  body.  He  used 
to  strew  flowers  on  their  graves,  and  offer  prayers  for 
their  brief  continuance  in  purgatory.  The  cross  placed 
by  them  had  been  blessed,  and  was  intended  to  help 
them  to  repel  Satan,  if  they  died  not  in  a  state  of 
grace. 


396  SELECT    REMAINS    OF 

Our  thoughts,  hke  the  waters  of  the  sea,  when  exhaled 
towards  heaven,  will  lose  their  offensive  bitterness  and 
saltness,  and  leave  behind  them  every  distasteful  quality, 
and  sweeten  into  an  amiable  humanity  and  candor,  till 
they  descend  in  gentle  showers  of  love  and  kindness  on 
our  fellow  creatures. 

The  union  of  variety  and  uniformity  constitutes  the 
beauty  of  life. 

Each  line  of  our  behaviour  should  terminate  in  God, 
as  the  centre  of  our  actions. 

^Eschines  the  philosopher,  out  of  his  admiration  of 
Socrates,  when  divers  persons  presented  him  with  other 
gifts,  made  a  tender  to  him  of  himself.  Less  was 
thought  an  insufficient  acknowledgment  of  the  worth 
and  favors  of  a  man.  Can  any  thing  less  be  thought 
worthy  of  a  God  ]  Dedicate  yourself  to  God,  and  you 
become  a  sanctuary  as  well  as  sacrifice. 

Can  we  think  it  fit  that  we  should  be  no  otherwise 
God's,  than  fields,  woods,  mountains,  and  brute  beasts 
are  1  Or,  that  he  should  have  no  other  interest  in  us 
than  he  has  in  devils  1 

No  one  need  expect  to  be  saved  by  a  Gospel  which 
he  despises — that  the  grace  of  it  shall  save  him,  while 
the  authority  of  it  does  not  rule  him. 

When  men  perish  under  the  Gospel,  they  are  benight- 
ed at  noon.  They  have  created  to  themselves  a  horrid 
darkness  in  the  midst  of  a  bright  and  clear  day.  They 
are  lost  in  a  day  of  salvation.  Lost  not  only  under  the 
means  of  salvation,  but  by  them.  Gospel  light  strikes 
them  blind.  The  sweet  vital  savors  of  the  Gospel  strike 
them  dead.     Invited,  yet  lost !     Warned,  exhorted,  be- 


WILLIAM    KEVINS,    D.  D.  397 

sought,  reproved,  yet  lost !  Lost,  not  as  to  any  thing 
which  is  theirs,  but  as  to  themselves.  Not  a  part  lost, 
but  the  whole.     Lost  contrary  to  expectations. 

When  one  is  to  be  but  his  own  companion,  why  will 
he  make  himself  so  very  ill  company  to  himself? 

"  Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye 
are,"  (more  than  ordinarily  disposed  to  the  reverence  of 
that  which  is  divine.)  The  finest  exordium  in  ancient 
oratory. 

All  great  philanthropists,  philosophers,  &c.,  such  as 
Howard,  Newton,  Washington,  are  simple  characters. 
The  affinities  of  evil  are  with  complexity  ;  and  those  of 
good,  with  simplicity. 

"  Of  one  blood."  It  is  not  true  that  the  blood  of 
some  is  a  celestial  ichor,  to  which  that  circulating 
in  the  veins  of  others  is  but  as  base  puddle.  Oppress 
sor  !  what  are  you  crushing  1  Bigot !  what  are  you 
cursing  1  The  image  of  your  God  in  your  brother's 
person. 

Joy  is  exceedingly  connatural  to  true  living  religion. 
There  cannot  be  a  greater  demonstration  of  it  than  this, 
that  there  can  be  no  state,  externally  so  bad,  that  can 
make  their  joy  unseasonable.  That  must  needs  be  a 
very  strong,  predominant,  and  prevailing  principle  in 
any  thing,  which  converts  and  turns  that  which  is  of 
an  opposite  nature  into  nutriment  to  itself.  Such  is 
the  joy  tbat  can  even  feed  upon  and  maintain  itself  out 
of  afflictions.  God's  people  can  rejoice  not  onl}'^  when 
they  are  afflicted,  but  that  they  are  afflicted. 

To  gain  only  patience  by  trials,  countervails  all  evils 

which  such  trials  can  bring. 

34 


398  SELECT    REMAINS,    ETC. 

Life  exhibits  little  more  than  a  funeral  procession, 
where  friend  follows  friend  ;  weeping  to-day,  and  wept 
for  to-morrow. 

The  things  which  cannot  satisfy,  can  nevertheless 
ruin  men. 

Opposing  Omnipotence  to  difficulty  was  their  secret, 
who  so  gloriously  overcame  a  world  that  was  not  wor- 
thy of  them. 

God  with  us,  and  all  things  in  God,  is  light  in  dark- 
ness, life  in  death. 

Christ  encourages  none  to  advance  on  the  ground  of 
his  own  strength,  any  more  than  on  that  of  his  own 
desert.  He  is  as  jealous  of  the  power  of  his  arm,  as  of 
the  merit  of  his  blood. 

If  there  is  a  law,  which  irresistibly  conveys  the  bodies 
of  the  pious  to  darkness  and  to  dust,  there  is  another, 
not  less  certain  or  less  powerful,  which  conducts  their 
spirits  to  the  abodes  of  bliss,  to  the  bosom  of  their 
Father  and  their  God. 

Few  made  application  to  Christ  but  the  children  of 
affliction. 


THE    END. 


